My Heart Leaps Up

The poem is written in iambic tetrameter. An iamb, the most common poetic foot in English poetry, consists of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Tetrameter is a line of poetry comprising four feet (“tetra” means “four”). Thus, “My heart leaps up when I behold / A rainbow in the sky: / So was it when my life began” (Lines 1-3).

Instead of the more familiar iambic pentameter used by Shakespeare and thus made iconic (“pentameter” because “penta” means “five”), Wordsworth chose to use shorter lines suitable for this pithy and simple lyric.

The only exception to the poem’s rigid structure is Line 6, “Or let me die!” which is an iambic dimeter (two poetic feet). This shorter line stands out against the others, adding emphasis to the vehemence of the speaker’s desire for the continuance of his special connection to nature. (The exclamation mark adds another layer of emphasis as well.)