Signs & Portents 2: A Rainbow in a Clear Sky

Tweet

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. (William Wordsworth) I looked out of my window this morning on a scene of bright sun and an almost cloudless sky. In fact, there was every indication that the day was bright and dry. To my amazement, there was a full and strong arch of a rainbow over the houses opposite. There was only a little light cloud and certainly no sign of anything enough to bear rain. I marvelled for some time at this mystery and remembered Wordsworth's words. A rainbow was a sign to Noah that the deluge was over and, indeed, it seems that Hurricane Matthew has expended its force (not that we have such storms here). For Wordsworth, the rainbow was a reminder that his childlike joy in Nature was still alive in his heart and this, for him, was a sure sign that humanity was 'naturally pious' (a view with which William Blake strongly disagreed). It also seems that he was making a clever pun on the 'pi-ness' of a circle and that was something new and delightful to me, too.