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.

William Wordsworth, 1802.