Last week I wore shorts and dresses and contemplated a late-season swim.
This week Autumn is considering whether to turn straight into winter. It has been cold enough to need jeans, boots and jumpers – and it has rained. A lot.
Because I don’t much like the cold or the rain, I needed to cheer myself up a little, so I turned my thoughts to poems celebrating rain.
There’s this old favourite from Robert Louis Stevenson:
Rain
The rain is raining all around
It falls on field and tree.
It rains on the umbrellas here
And on the ships at sea.
And, because this lead me try to recall a more Australian poem, there’s CJ Dennis‘s Song of the Rain, with the glorious lines:
Patter, patter … Boolcoomatta,
Adelaide and Oodnadatta,
Pepegoona, parched and dry,
Laugh beneath a dripping sky.
Riverina’s thirsting plain
Knows the benison of rain.
Ararat and Arkaroola
Render thanks with Tantanoola
For the blessings they are gaining,
And it’s raining—raining—raining!
(you can read the full poem, here)
And, of course, by the time I’d read these, I was remembering that rain is a good thing.
Do you have a favourite rain poem?
For more poetry goodness, Poetry Friday is being hosted by Lauara Salas on her blog.
These are lovely! I always like RLS, and then the names of towns in that Australian poem just dance on my tongue if I read it out loud. Fabulous! I don’t have a favorite rain poem, but I do love rain. Here’s one rain poem I shared, Christina Rosetti’s “Winter Rain.” I think it’s just beautiful: http://www.teachingauthors.com/2014/03/WCBwrapup.html
Thanks Laura for your comment and for sharing Winter Rain. I agree it is just beautiful and a joyful reminder of why we need that rain!
Oh, how I love the Australian rain poem! Those NAMES!!
And I love remembering that while our rain is bringing spring blooms, your rain is bringing fall chills. Our wide, wonderful world…
Yep, Aussie place names are really diverse. It can be fun trying to convince people sometimes that they’re real. And it has always amazed me to think just how different the world can be at the same time.
Wow, I love that Australian one. And today it’s raining here, too. The snow is melting. Spring is surging, along with my joy. A little pitter patter of tiny drops is flitter flutter fun, waiting for the sun.
Oh Brenda – your comment is a poem in itself 🙂
It’s summer where I am and reading all this rain poems makes me wish for some rain. I love rain and remember playing in the rain and having paper boat races.
Both poems are beautiful capturing the simplicity and the joy of rain. I do not have a rain poem in mind. However, reading this makes me want to go on my own search for rain poems.
Thanks Myra. I remember paper boat races too. We also used to play boat races with leaves.