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.

Students' level
Senior High School Students

Rationale
The reason I chose this poem for senior high school students is to help them
to find back the innocent part in the bottom of their hearts. Growing up,
we gradually loose the ability to be cheered by simple things. When
reading this poem, students can remember how easy they could be
happy as a little child. And it is never too late to find that inner child back.
Pre-reading Activities
Activity 1 Imagination
Purpose: Building relevance. Help students recall their feelings in the childhood.
Procedure:
(1) Free association - A Journey to Childhood
Ask all the students to close their eyes. With soft music as background music, the
teacher gently reads:
Relax yourself and sit on the chair as comfortable as you can. We are
going to have a journey back to our childhood.
Now, you are six years old. Since it was continually rainy, you have
stayed at home for a week. Finally, it is mild today. So your parents take
you to a place, where is really beautiful and you have never been before.
You run and jump. You are so happy that you can do whatever you want
to do here. Suddenly, something caught your eyes. For an adult, that
may be just ordinary. But for you, that is so special that you seldom have
a chance to see it in your life. You are very excited and shouted to your
parents, " You see! Wow! I've never seen that before......."
What makes you so excited? What did you just see? Keep the feeling in
your mind. And now open your eyes.
(2) Discussion
A. Discuss with a partner. Tell your partner what you saw and how you felt.
B. Discuss in class. Ask several students to talk about what they have just
experienced. And ask them if they have the same feeling when they see it
now.
Activity 2 Vocabulary
Purpose: Help students be familiar with the vocabulary.
Procedure:
(1) Explanation
The teacher explain the following words:
 leap - jump ; when your heart leaps up, you experience a sudden, very strong
feeling of surprise or happiness.
 behold - see
 be bound by st.- the thing is its most important aspects and it is limited or
restricted by that thing.
 piety - strong religious belief
(2) Fill in the blank ( see worksheet 1)
 Students can work with a partner or by themselves.

While-reading Activities
Activity 3 Guessing according to the title
(1) Who is the speaker of this poem? (Whoes heart leaps up?)
(2) Why does his/her heart leap up?

Activity 4 Paraphrasing
Purpose: Paraphrase and help students comprehend the poem.
Procedure:
Explain the poem by paraphrasing it:
(1) My heart feels so high when I see a rainbow in the sky.
(2) So was it → It was so
When I was young, I was very happy when I saw a rainbow.
Now I grow up, I'm still very happy when I see a rainbow.
When I am old, I hope that I'll still be excited when I see a rainbow.
If I don't, just let me die.
(3) The Child is father of the Man.
I wish I can be joyful over natural beauty through out my life.
Activity 5 Jig saw
Purpose: Check students' comprehension.
Procedure:
Students work in groups of three and arrange the sheets of paper (see Worksheet 2) in
correct order.

Activity 6 Discussion
Form groups of three. Discuss the following questions.
(1) How does the author feel when he sees the rainbow?
(2) Does his feeling change as time goes by?
(3) Why does he think that he would rather die if he were not joyful when he sees a
rainbow?
(4) Why does he say "The Child is father of the Man"? Do you agree with him?

Post-reading Activities
Activity 7 Reading the poem
(1) Listen to the model
(2) Practice the reading in pairs

Activity 8 Comparing the translation

Give students the two versions of the translation of this poem. (see Worksheet 3)
Follow-up Activities
Activity 9 Writing a letter
Choose from the following topics and write a 300-word letter.
 Here is magic bottle which can bring your message to the future. What advice would
you like to give to the "adult you"? Write a letter to yourself.
 Here is a magic time machine which can bring you to the past or to the future.
However, there are thousands of people who want to join the voyage. Write a
letter to the owner of the time machine. Tell him the reason why you want to go
back to the past or to the future.
 The author say," The Child is father of the Man". What does he mean? Write a letter
to your best friend, tell him/she what do you think about it.

Activity 10 Suggested extensive reading

-- the first chapter of The Little Prince
Purpose: In this chapter, the author contrasts the sophisticated of adults and the
naive of children in an interesting way, which may help students think
more about this topic.

Appendix

Put the following words in to the blank:

Worksheet 1
leap behold be bound by piety

 My heart at the sight of that handsome boy.

 Her earned her a personal missive from Pope GregoryⅦ.

 Our lives work, family and friends.

 She looked into his eyes and madness.

Worksheet 2 (For Jig Saw Puzzle)
Cut the following paper into pieces
My heart feels so high when I see a rainbow in the sky.
When I was young, I was very happy when I saw a rainbow.
Now I grow up, I'm still very happy when I see a rainbow.
When I am old, I hope that I'll still be excited when I see a rainbow.
If I don't, just let me die.
The Child is father of the Man.
I wish I can be joyful over natural beauty through out my life.

Worksheet 3
Version 1 Version 2

我看見彩虹在天邊 當我瞧見天空中架起彩虹
我的心怦怦跳： 我的心呀，就無比的激動。
我年幼時固是這般； 自懂事起是這樣，
現在成年還是依然； 成人後也沒什麼不同。
但願老來仍能不變， 但願到老依然如此，
否則讓我死掉！ 否則，我寧願去死！
孩子是成年人的父親； 幼時如何，長成也如斯，
我願以愛好自然的心情 但願我的一生，
把一天天連貫起我的一生。 都貫串著純真的虔誠，有如赤子。
（梁實秋譯） （李鑫華譯）

About the Author

William Wordsworth 為為為為為為為為 1770 為為為為為為為為為為為為為 1850
為 4 為 23 為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為
為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為為