Faculty of Arts and Humanities Level four/regular students

English Department Analysis of Literary Text

T. Ghada Basalamah Academic Year 2016- 2017

The Rainbow

Done by : Asrar Sharaf Saleh Al-kohlani

Supervised by : T. Ghada Basalamah

"Biographical Criticism of "The Rainbow

William Wordsworth is a natural poet who worshipps nature as his God. For him, nature is
his main source of spiritual comfort and escape form real life which was full of corruption as a
result of the circumstanceses around him especially the Industrial Revolution which turned
people's minds and made them materialistic and also the French Revolution which led
people to kill eachother with a cold blood.All these social and historical issues led him to
establish the Romantic movement so he became the father of Romanticism and a lover of
nature. His movement was based on many traits such as humanity, love of nature, mysticism
and the spiritual life. His association with nature began when he was only a child and
remained with him till his death. In this short poem, Wordsworth symbolizes his love and
.connection to nature in a beautiful manner

The poet expresses his love and connection to nature through the use of the word
"Rainbow." The word "Rainbow'' is thought to be a symbol of nature. Wordsworth loves
nature. He considers nature a source of happiness. He believes that ultimate happiness can be
guaranteed if one spends his life in direct contact with nature. The poet wishes to spend his
whole life in nature till he becomes an old man; otherwise, he would prefer to die. This
:ideology is reflected in this poem especially in the first six lines when he says

"My heart leaps up when I behold/A rainbow in the sky/So was it when my life my life began

''!So is it now I am a man;/So be it when I shall grow old,/Or let me die

The poet sees a rainbow in the sky when he was a child. This rainbow makes his heart
"leaps up" out of happiness. This rainbow continues appearing to his manhood and to his old
age. This rainbow makes him happy and creates out of a child a real man to the extent that he
wishes that the rainbow continues appearing to the last day of his life; otherwise, he prefers
.dying

In this poem, William Wordsworth has given a quick expression to his intense love for
nature which persists all his life. In fact, his love for beautiful objects of nature is the very
foundation of his life and draws nourishment from it. He cannot imagine his very existence
without that passionate attachment to natural objects. It was his love for nature that instilled in
.him a natural piety or sympathy for everything in the world and makes him close to God
 "Formal Criticism of "The Rainbow

The Rainbow is a short poem written by William Wordsworth. This poem is written to
communicate with readers his ideologies about nature. This ideologies are clearly presented
from the formal elements of the work: the form, the tenses, the language, the tone, the
.paradox, the figurative devices and the theme

First of all, this poem is a lyric. It is short and musical. The poem can be sung as it
contains a lot of musical effects and sound devices. Thus, the poem is melodious. There is
assonance in "so", "grow" and "old". This assonance intensifies the musical effect and creates
unity among words. The assonance in "leap" and "behold" creates a link between the two
actions. The speaker is delighted when he sees the sight of the rainbow. Besides, there is
alliteration in "by piety bound". It intensifies the musical effect and creates unity among
words. It draws the readers' attention to the speaker's desire to create a link between his life
.and the love of nature

in this poem, the poet uses many tenses: past, present, and future. These tenses express the
poet's deep connection to nature. William Wordsworth is known by his intense love for
nature. He is considered a worshipper of nature. He loved spending all his time in nature. This
deep connection to nature is highly expressed in his mixing of the tenses in this poem.
Actually, he used the past tense to say that there was a rainbow in the sky. While he was born,
this rainbow gave him ultimate joy and made his heart "leap up". Besides, he used the present
tense to express his happiness about the rainbow when he became an adult. Due to the
presence of the rainbow till manhood, his happiness lasted as well. Moreover, the poet used
the future tense to express his wish that the rainbow would continue appearing in his life later
.on to shine it

As for the language of the poem, the poet used simple and easy language mainly rustic
language full of lexical items related to nature. This type of this language further intensifies
the poet's deep connection to nature. Examples of those words which are "nature-driven" are
.rainbow, sky, grow, and natural

The tone of the poem is not the same throughout the poem. The tone vacillates between
joy and gloom. At the beginning, the poet started with a cheerful tone. He told us about a
happy experience in nature. He saw a rainbow while he was born. This rainbow gave him
happiness. Because this rainbow lasted to his manhood, he lived a happy life since then. As a
result, he wished that this rainbow would last to the last day of his life. Then the tone
switched gear to be gloomy when he talked about his old age and death. In fact he preferred
dying without the existence of the rainbow in his life. Yet, the tone turned to be cheerful again
towards the end. Thus, the tone of the poem is not the same throughout the poem. This is
.reflected through the use of the rhyme scheme which is not regular : abccabcdd
The dominant pronouns used throughout the poem are "My" and" I". The poet used them a
lot to make the poem more personal. Actually, the poet is relating to readers a personal
experience of his. This poem is more or less a description of his admiration of nature , which
.is the ultimate standard of a pure, typical and romantic work

As for the paradox, the poet employed one in the seventh line when he says, "The child is
the father of the Man;". This line is very strange in a sense that a child cannot be a father of
men. Actually, the poet compared childhood to be the father of man. This paradox shows how
childhood has a profound impact on man's whole life. Childhood is considered to be the
foundation of manhood. The things that exist in one's childhood get developed and remain
.deep-rooted as a one grows up in years

Beside the paradox that the poem used, the poet employed a lot of figurative devices such as
personification, hyperbole , and metaphor . In the first line, there is personification. The poet
gives his heart an animate quality of being able to jump out of happiness, whereas in reality a
heart does not have the ability to jump or leap. However, the poet uses such figure of speech
to highlight the idea that nature is the main source of happiness. It delights people to the
extent that it has a heart leap up out of intense happiness. Besides, the poet in line number six
uses hyperbole. The main goal of using such a device is to further intensify the importance of
nature in one's life. Nature is very important. Actually, it makes people's lives very joyfully.
Thus, the poet wants to spend his life accompanied with nature. Otherwise, he would prefer
dying. He considers his life without the existence of nature very miserable so that he wants to
die if nature is no longer in his life. Besides, the last line of the poem contains a metaphor.
The poet compares his days to something tangible which can be fastened together. This
metaphor shows that the poet wishes that his intimate relation with nature should be
connected with the other by the link of natural love. This ,actually, shows the poet's strong
.love for nature

As for the theme of the poem, the poem expresses many themes. First of all, the poem deals
with the theme of nature. The poet expresses that through the use of the word " rainbow"
which indicates nature. There is a strong connection between the poet and nature. The poet
loves nature too much. He wants to spent his entire life in nature. Second, the poem deals
with the theme of happiness. The poet regards nature as the source of happiness. Only nature
can give him happiness nothing else. Thus, he wishes to spend his life in nature to gain joy.
Individuality is another theme expressed in this poem. The poet talks about a personal
experience. He is ,actually, talking about himself not about another one. This is clear through
.''the use of the pronouns "I " and "My
 Thematic Criticism of The Rainbow

The Rainbow poem is a short lyrical poem that deals with mainly four themes. Actually,
the poem expresses the theme of love for nature, happiness , individuality and the hope to age
.well

First of all, in this poem, the word "rainbow" has been depicted for being nature itself. In
another word, the "rainbow" is a symbol for nature. The poet is known for his intense love for
nature. He feels that there is a deep connection between him and nature. While he is born, he
spends his life accompanied with nature, so does when he grows up to be a man. His love for
nature exists when he is a child , and it gets developed and remains deep-rooted as he grows
:up to be a man. That is shown when the poet says

My heart leaps up when I behold/ a rainbow in the sky/ so was it when my life began/so it is "
now I am a man/ so be it when I shall grow up." Thus, he wants to spend the rest of his life in
nature. In case he will not spend his life in nature he would prefer dying. This idea proves
how intense love the poet feels towards nature and his deep connection to it. This idea is also
"!clearly presented in the sixth line when he says, "Or let me die

In addition to that, the poet considers nature a source where one can get joy or happiness
from. By being very close to nature, one can live a very lasting life mingled with extreme
happiness. Only nature can guarantee joy nothing else. That idea is proven when the poet
narrates what happened to him once he sees the rainbow- the symbol of nature. Once he sees
it, he feels very happy to the extent that his heart leaps up out of happiness. It was the rainbow
that makes his childhood very cheerful, and when he grows up to be a man, he feels happy
due to the existence of the rainbow in his life. As a consequence, he wishes that this rainbow
.would last to the last day of his life so that he can live cheerfully

The theme of individuality is embodied in this beautiful poem. The poet in this poem talks
about a personal experience that happened to him. He narrates that when he is a child, he sees
a rainbow in the sky, which makes him very happy. The existence of the rainbow lasts to his
manhood, so he feels happy to the extent that he wants to spend the rest of his life in nature.
This incident happens to him not anyone else. Thus, he is talking about himself. That is clear
through the use of the use of the pronouns "I " and "My", which are the dominant pronouns
.used, which indicates individuality

Lastly, the poem expresses the theme of hoping to age well. The speaker expresses his hope
to have the same life he has when he is a child and an adult man. That is to say, he wants his
old age to be like his young age. He wants to have the same life, the same feeling and
.emotions when he grows up to be an old man