My Heart Leaps Up

William Wordsworth · 1807

Catalog grade guidance: 3–5 — Rainbow lyric; very short memory piece.

9 content lines · 61 words · Est. recitation about 34 sec (approx.)

Public-domain text for reading and recitation practice. Source: Project Gutenberg #8774 / #8824.Estimated time uses ~120 words/minute plus short pauses—not a contest rule.

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.