November 28, 2012

Homage


Years ago, a friend acquainted me with the famous poem by William Wordsworth from which the uncanny quote comes, "The Child is father of the Man". 

Often, I'm reminded of this quote  and of the friend.

I stumbled today upon an article in the New York Times which used the quote as title, with a twist: The Father Is Child of the Man, by Bruce Feiler.

The author quotes Mary Catherine Bateson, an anthropologist, as saying:
“A great amount of what parents learn we are taught by our children.”

I wished it were true. It should.

"MY HEART LEAPS UP WHEN I BEHOLD"

          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;
              I could wish my days to be
          Bound each to each by natural piety.


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