1. THE EAGLE
& OTHER POEMS

2. MY HEART LEAPS UP
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

3. William Wordsworth
(1770-1850)

4. MY HEART LEAPS UP
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.

5. Paraphrase
My heart jumps with joy at the sight of the
beautiful rainbow in the sky. In my childhood, I
used to feel the same way, and as an adult, I'm still
a lover nature, who can still be moved by the same
sight. I hope that I will continue to feel the same
way towards nature. Since the grown-up is the
outcome of his upbringing as a child and of his
experiences as a young person, I'm sure that my
love of nature as a child will make me a perpetual
lover of nature. I hope all my days will be
connected by the same string: love of nature.
Theme
Love of nature

6. THE EAGLE
ALFRED TENNYSON
THE EAGLE
WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

7. Alfred Tennyson
(1809-1892)

8. THE EAGLE
He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

9. Paraphrase
The eagle is sitting on top of the mountain
rocks, holding the rocks with his talons that look like
crooked hands. He is so high in the sky that he
seems close to the sun, circled with the blue sky all
around him.
From far above, the eagle sees the sea crawling
slowly. In contrast to the slow movement of the
sea, the eagle falls to the ground very swiftly and
powerfully like a thunderbolt.
Theme
The poem is about power and freedom. The
eagle is an example of the two qualities.

10. THE EXAMPLE
WILLIAM H. DAVIES

11. William H. Davies
(1870-1940)

12. THE EXAMPLE
HERE'S an example from
A Butterfly;
That on a rough, hard rock
Happy can lie;
Friendless and all alone
On this unsweetened stone.
Now let my bed be hard,
No care take I;
I'll make my joy like this
Small Butterfly;
Whose happy heart has power
To make a stone a flower.

13. Paraphrase
This is a great lesson that a small butterfly has taught me.
That small insect can be happy although she lies on a rough rock
all alone and without any friends. She is happy in spite of the
harsh surroundings and the difficult circumstances she finds
herself in.
Like her, man too can be happy, regardless of the tough
external conditions of his life. Happiness springs from the heart; it
is not the result of outward circumstances. Like the butterfly that
can turn the unfavourable conditions of her life to her
advantage, I too will be able to enjoy my life against all odds.
Theme
Happiness is the theme of this poem. According to the
poem, man makes his own happiness, which springs from his
heart, not from the circumstances of his life.

14. LANGSTON HUGHES
“I have a dream that my four little children
will one day live in a nation where they will
not be judged by the color of their skin but
by the content of their character.”
Martin Luther king, 1963

15. Langston Hughes
(1902-1967)

16. DREAMS
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

17. Paraphrase
Stick to your dreams because if you lose them,
life will be like a broken-winged bird that is unable
to fly. If you let go of your goals and don't work
hard to achieve them, your life will not be
complete.
Stick to your dreams because if you lose them,
life will be like a dead land where nothing grows.
Life without dreams is a wasted life, equivalent to
death.
Theme
The importance of setting goals and working
hard to realize them.