Thursday, May 6, 2010

My Heart Leapt Up

I took these shots in our backyard Wednesday evening of the most glorious double rainbow. It was practically neon when it first appeared, then mellowed and changed the sky to mauve.

The Wordsworth poem at last made sense to me.




My Heart Leaps Up
   ~by William Wordsworth

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 wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.


For comments about and analysis of this poem.....
Comments   
Analysis





    .

    20 comments:

    YogaforCynics said...

    The child is father to the man...gotta admit, I originally knew that...long before becoming a literary scholar...as the name of an album by a band I never much cared for...Blood Sweat and Tears...and didn't know their name came from a (misquoted?) Winston Churchill line, either.

    Anyway, I like that line in the sense that we're always the parents to whoever we're going to be tomorrow...and always need to think about what kind of child we're nurturing...

    Friko said...

    I am glad I came by, the photos and poem are a delight. I am not always very fond of Wordsworth, but I must admit he had his moments.

    La Belette Rouge said...

    Double rainbow=double happiness!:-))

    Debby said...

    Gorgeous!!!
    Debby

    Anonymous said...

    Such a clear and colorful rainbow! Certainly the God is the best Artist! Thanks for the lovely snaps Aunt.

    Nancy said...

    The rainbows are soo beautiful! The one could not be brighter. They always lighten the moment, no matter what is happening.

    Tabitha.Montgomery said...

    weeeeeeee I can imagine sliding down that big beautiful rainbow like a giant slide into a big bucket of gold!

    Great pictures,Lydia :)

    Amy said...

    Lydia, I agree with Friko - Wordsworth can surprise! You captured the "double" rainbow - I've only witnessed a few in my "long" life! This is a beautiful post - thank you for making my evening!

    kj said...

    oh lydia, i would be on my knees praying for my extensive wish list.

    totally beautiful


    kj

    naomi dagen bloom said...

    So in a place not so far mine in Portland, you got twice as much pleasure? The week before we saw another, very chubby at the lower end. Of course there's something going on and we want it to be good.

    Lydia said...

    YogaforCynics~ I wasn't a fan of Blood Sweat & Tears either. I'll play the mental jukebox to see if I can remember the song you're mentioning.
    Wish you'd have given the true quote by Churchill...now I'll have to look it up myself.
    I love your take on the meaning of the poem...

    Friko~ "...he had his moments." That is funny, Friko, or at least it strikes me so because you are so right on.

    La Belette Rouge~ It certainly affected me that way!

    Debby~ Thanks! (I'll visit.)

    Riyadh~ I loved your comment -- very artistic in itself! xoxo

    Nancy~ They sure lightened the moment for me. My husband was tormenting me by watching a few minutes of some Sylvester Stallone movie on the Spanish language channel. :)

    Tabitha~ I do believe your inner child (see comment from YogaforCynics) wrote the comment for you today. Special.

    Amy~ May your life extend into so far a future that you will see dozens of double rainbows. :)

    kj~ Cute! At the moment anything I wanted or thought I wanted mattered very little. Don't the trees even seem to be enjoying the illumination?

    naomi~ It appears that, on that evening, we got twice the pleasure -- but Portland has a way of always evening these things out.

    Darlene said...

    The photos are lovely.

    Please visit my blog today. I have an award for you. While I don't think you post these badges, I wanted to mention your blog because I enjoy it so much.

    Owen said...

    Funny, this was the second blog tonight I saw where a double rainbow was posted recently, so for me it was like a double dose of double prisms in the sky, double the joy... the other one was over Paris, and it is just a post or two down in :

    http://catherinefiveofus.blogspot.com/

    Which you may enjoy, btw, as Catherine is doing all sorts of fun stuff...

    Lydia said...

    Darlene~ Thank you for your kindness. That is a great award and I intend to pass it along...

    Owen~ Talk about synchronicity, huh? I never thought that Silverton, Oregon would share anything similar with Paris...but double rainbows will certainly do!
    Thanks for the link to Catherine's blog; I will def. visit.

    Rhiannon said...

    we had two beautiful rainbows here the other day also. When I saw it I went outside and just looked and looked...and then I saw another one in the total opposite direction. I had thought for a few years that I had not seen one rainbow..so it's about time.

    Got to admit this year of the tiger is really aggressive and moving very strong and chaotic...which is just what the astrologers said. I find that interesting. Since you were a tiger I was thinking about how forceful and strong this year has been...and I also feel a bit of a "roar" myself these days..posted on the right side of my blog..much improved from being a sad depressed lady to a "woman lioness with a roar"...thought of you when I posted the lioness..

    Have a lovely weekend Lydia..

    Love,

    Rhi

    Anonymous said...

    So beautifuls photos!:D

    Manuela said...

    if rainbows can't make our hearts leap up, what can... thank you for these beautiful photos, they me smile.

    Lydia said...

    Rhi~ Your comments are always so interesting because the way you see the world is very unique. I'll be by to see your new "roar" - and I will say in advance that this is good news! Thanks for thinking of me when you think of tigers! xo

    Manuela~ You ask the perfect question! I am so glad these photos brought you happiness.

    j said...

    Lovely shots, Lydia. I've seen more rainbows in Berkeley than anywhere else I've lived and it's hard to capture them on film. And double-rainbows? Wonderful.

    Lydia said...

    Katariina~ I apologize for not replying to you when you wrote your cheery comment. Thank you for it. :)

    Jennifer~ Same apology as above to Kata. I love that you see so many rainbows in Berkeley, my mother's birthplace.

    ShareThis

    LinkWithin

    Related Posts with Thumbnails