The Child Is Father Of The Man (An Analysis)

THE CHILD IS FATHER OF THE MAN (AN ANALYSIS)

 

      The title seems to be odd since the child is not the father of man. This quote came from the poem entitled “My heart lift up and behold” also known as “The Rainbow”. This little literary masterpiece has been written by William Woodworth in March 26, 1802 he has made this short 9 line poems that has been moved by nature and their society but pondering the line “the child is the father of the man” creates a mystical intervention and confusion of what really is in the writers mind. Usually most analysis have decided a positive approach in its meaning but only the writers really knows in his mind what it really mean and this is the secret of poetry. Let us critically analysis what can we extract from such word beyond the authors point of view. You can view the whole poem here in this website; (http://www.bartleby.com/106/286.html)

      The child is father of the man they can be viewed and simplified in a song of Whitney Houston saying “I believe the children are the future” and so they are, literally they are the descendant of the world and it belongs to them they are the seed of happiness in every home and they are the inspiration of their parents. They have given their full protection to a child and most nations has given every opportunity and privileges to a child by given them a good life, attention, education and future knowing that they are a gift from god and they will soon inherit the earth. A child is always happy but they can also cry, they may not be mature in words and in action but the world knows the heart of the child is pure and soft that’s why they protected them.   

      The child is father of the man knowing that we can also predict our maturity and emotion that all of us have come from childhood and we carry it in our adulthood. As an adult we long to go back to childhood and we wanted ourselves to become like them again, we may sometimes wish that we can go back in time where we use to play with our neighbor, run on the hills and valley and go to an adventure, play with our classmate to draw trees and flowers, engage with nature and simply look for the beautiful things that surround us no matter how simple they maybe. A child never mind a problem the just want to play, the world is a paradise a playing field in the hearth of a child and they can fly without wings and they reach the highest hills, their imagination is not limited.

      The child is father of the man because we can learn from them simple things so that we can be wise, the feeling of hurt they feel today is gone tomorrow which in itself a struggle for adult, children can choose righteousness without effort much more than a man who are easily tempted by his weak spirit. You can learn valuable things from a child because they can envision their adulthood and how they want to grow through which a man may not, because he may be blinded by fear and insecurities and all worldly thoughts, he is delimited in his own image. A child can be a teacher in the eyes of an adult if they only take time to look in their life and how they grow.

      The child is father of the man and they are far from sin, God has deliver children to his kingdom to live with him in eternity. The bible has called upon men to be like a child. According to the bible “Jesus called a little child to be with come to him, Jesus stood the child before the followers then Jesus said, I tell you the truth you must change and become like little children by heart. If you don’t do this you can never enter the kingdom of heaven. The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven is the person that makes himself humble like a child”. (Matthew 18: 2-4). The bible clearly signifies the difference of being childish to childlike the latter is positive and designed to commune with God.

      The child is father of the man and the role of adult is to protect and nurture them to become a better part of the society that even the bible ask us to “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Whatever we teach to them will become their stronghold that this may shape their life and their future until they become adult with the image created by the society. Literally they will soon be the parents of the new generation and whatever we thought them will also be their guide to teach their children that makes them the “child is father of the man”. The generation will continue and the child will grow but in respect they will still devote their life to a child and the chain would never stop until the end of time.  

     

         

Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com