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The Top Hat

Page history last edited by Brock Baker 15 years, 1 month ago

 

  1. What, if any, is the connection between the story of the Garden of Eden (see supplementary reading), the rabbit’s fur and Sophie’s den? 
  2. What is the only thing required to be a good philosopher?  Why do many people not have it?  What might change if we were all philosophers – how would the world look/work/feel?

 

 

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold  

by William Wordsworth

 

 

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.  

 

 

    3.  What is the poem’s key line?  Explain the poem in your own words and connect to what is required to be a philosopher.

 

 

Comments (8)

Zubie said

at 8:26 pm on Feb 11, 2009

"The child is father of the man"...hummm...ok, here is one way of looking at it--- a child has the "thirst for knowledge", much like philosophers, they are curious, they want to learn and grow. A father is often (as seen by a child) a wise and knowledgeable person. However, fathers have lost their "thirst" for knowledge. Therefore, the child is the "father" of the man, since children are more like philosophers.

Mark P said

at 8:43 pm on Feb 11, 2009

Key Line: "So it be when I grow old"

Explanation/Translation:
My heart leaps when I see a rainbow.
This is what I thought as a child.
But I am now older.
If it's not what I'll think until the end of my days,
Let me die now.
From childhood, we only grow physically:
Each and every day should be
Tied to the next by the appreciation of nature's wonder.

Perhaps this means that philosophers should remain children at heart, and see the beauty that surrounds them, everyday.

Heather Crumplen said

at 12:53 pm on Feb 12, 2009

1. The Garden of Eden, Sophie's Den, and the rabbit fur are alll connected because they offer a choice of a "comfort zone" or an exploration. In the Garden of Eden, during the first part they live in this sort of bubble where everything is provided for them and life is a lot more simple then it should be. Because they ate the apple from the tree however they lose these luxuries and are basically left to figure things out on their own. They had a chocie, they only had to follow one rule, and because they broke it they were left on their own. In Sophie's Den it is her childhood "safe" place. She would go their when she wanted to be alone, and nobody would find her. When she begins this course, her den becomes a place of exploration. It is where she does her thinking. The rabbits fur also offers you this choice, because you could either be safe and stay barried in the rabbits fur or you can be curious and "dangerous" and live on the tip of the fur.

Richardo Montilbon said

at 12:54 pm on Feb 12, 2009

"So it shall be when i grow old"

My thoughts are similar to both mark and sarah's. I beleive that what this poem means is that when we are children we see things froma different prespective, things like rainbows amaze us and we always have a thirst to learn and know more, yet as we grow older we sometimes lose this thirst and amazment of nature pure beauty. Is the author saying that we see the most beauty during our childhood, and we are most like philosophers then?

Zubie said

at 6:20 pm on Feb 23, 2009

NO 'H" on Sara!!!

Rebecca Pratt said

at 12:57 pm on Feb 12, 2009

I think that this poem is saying that children are smarter then we may give them credit for.
They are very much like philosphers, how they think and learn.

StephenM said

at 1:25 pm on Feb 12, 2009

My Heart Leaps Up When I Behold

Key line: “So is it now I am a man,”

In my opinion this lines gives us a good representation of the meaning of the poem. Throughout the course of ones life, we experience different situations that we learn from and grow as people. These situations can be called coming of age moments, it is when someone leave one stage and moves onto the next as a more mature person. As we grow older are perspective changes and we view situations differently this is a result of are point of view maturing.

Cailin Whincop said

at 1:27 pm on Feb 12, 2009

I believe tthat the poem's key line is
"The child is father of the man:".
This line signifies that children are true leaders in life, because they have not accepted the world the way it is yet. They still question certain things, while adults don't question things the way they are.

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