[Mary Meriam]

I'm enjoying these poems - thanks for starting the discussion, AZ.

Summer Rain
by Amy Lowell

All night our room was outer-walled with rain.
Drops fell and flattened on the tin roof,
And rang like little disks of metal.
Ping!—Ping!—and there was not a pinpoint of silence between them.
The rain rattled and clashed,
And the slats of the shutters danced and glittered.
But to me the darkness was red-gold and crocus-coloured
With your brightness,
And the words you whispered to me
Sprang up and flamed—orange torches against the rain.
Torches against the wall of cool, silver rain!



It is Marvellous to Wake Up Together
by Elizabeth Bishop

It is marvellous to wake up together
At the same minute; marvellous to hear
The rain begin suddenly all over the roof,
To feel the air suddenly clear
As if electricity had passed through it
From a black mesh of wires in the sky.
All over the roof the rain hisses,
And below, the light falling of kisses.

An electrical storm is coming or moving away;
It is the prickling air that wakes us up.
If lighting struck the house now, it would run
From the four blue china balls on top
Down the roof and down the rods all around us,
And we imagine dreamily
How the whole house caught in a bird-cage of lightning
Would be quite delightful rather than frightening;

And from the same simplified point of view
Of night and lying flat on one's back
All things might change equally easily,
Since always to warn us there must be these black
Electrical wires dangling. Without surprise
The world might change to something quite different,
As the air changes or the lightning comes without our blinking,
Change as our kisses are changing without our thinking.

[Jayne Osborn]

Hi AZ,

It seems as if the rain has barely stopped in my part of England for weeks... often it's been absolutely torrential for days at a time. We simply haven't had a "summer" this year.

In spite of that (and unlike my husband) I love it. I've always loved rain, and I'm happy with our climate, and wouldn't want to live anywhere that's hot.

I clicked on Roger's Ladysmith Black Mambazo link and in a split second my aforementioned husband identified them and the song by name (I was impressed as I hadn't heard of them before).

Originally Posted by AZ Foreman

In Classical Chinese literature, particularly poetry, 雲雨 "Clouds and Rain" denote sexual love. (I always thought of the rain as being the orgasm.) Also one of the numerous meanings of 風流 "wind blowing" is passionate, unbridled, often illicit love, a romantic affair.

This was a revelation to me... how lovely!

Finally, I'd like to add to the rain poems with this one:

The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

"Into each life some rain must fall" has become a much-used phrase (no, I won't use the word cliché in reference to it) that's so profound. Lovely, lovely rain... where would we be without it? (In the desert, I suppose.)

You can tell that I'm a big fan of rain. It's late here now, and guess what? ...It's raining!

Jayne

[Gail White]

Rain is my favorite weather. I much prefer gray skies to blue ones, and really should have been British.

Lovely poems here, and I particularly like the Edward Thomas. He's a favorite of mine.