Wordsworth depended on memory of past events and experiences to nourish his life as an adult and also to fuel his poetry. Many of these memories were of his childhood and adolescence, when he reveled in exploring England’s Lake District.

In the poem, memory first surfaces in Line 3, “So it was when my life began.” Here, Wordsworth refers to the explosion of joy he felt when he caught sight of a rainbow as a boy. Wordsworth loves that this experience has become much more than a memory. Because he continues to have the same jolt of awe at the sight of rainbows as an adult, he cherishes the connection with his childhood innocence, youthful insight, and uncomplicated awe at the beauties of nature. He values the continuity of the past with the present—so much so that the imagined loss of that continuity of memory prompts him to demand death (“Or let me die!” [Line 6]).

The feeling that the past was somehow always better can be felt in much of Wordsworth’s poetry, even though he also tries hard to convince himself that what he has gained is at least equal to what he has lost. In this poem, memory of the past is reassuring because his present experience as an adult (in this instance, of the rainbow) is just as enriching and joyful as it was when he was much younger.