My heart leaps up when I behold

William Wordsworth was an English romantic poet. One of his poems is titled "My Heart Leaps Up."

My Heart Leaps Up

My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky;
So was it when my life began;
So is it now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
And I could wish my days to be
Bound to each by natural piety.

The narrator expresses his love of nature. Every time he sees a rainbow he is filled with joy. This was true in his days of infancy and also now. He says this connection will be true until he dies and declares he would rather die than not appreciate the beauty of a rainbow. He considers children superior to adults because they are closer to nature. He wants to be as in his childhood, a person bound to nature.

The poem "My Heart Leaps Up" is a very short poem. However, it is a powerful poem which expresses many ideas in few words. The strength of the narrator's feelings is clearly expressed in the sixth verse "Or let me die!" For the narrator a life without nature is unimaginable.