Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Rainbow

The Rainbow - meaning Summary

Childhood Shapes Adulthood

Longfellow responds to a simple sight—a rainbow—as proof of a lifelong emotional continuity. The poem claims that the joy felt in childhood persists into adulthood and should continue into old age, making early experience formative. Its closing line, The Child is father of the Man, states the central idea: the self is built from youthful perception, and days should be connected by a steady, innate reverence for life.

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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.

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