Tuesday, November 20, 2007

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 each to each by natural piety.

The rainbow appeared suddenly this afternoon on a turn of the road. It brought wonder, happiness and the remembrance of William Wordsworth's poem, which I had learned by heart sixty years ago - and forgotten since.

So be it when I shall grow old

So it is, brother William - so it is! I am old now, and I know.

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