Rain on the Roof
When the sky is covered with dark
have you ever listened to the clouds and tstarts raining,
What thoughts flashed throughpatter of soft rain on the rooj ?
your mind as you heard this
melody of nature? Read the poem to fiund out what the poet
dreamed of while listening to the rain.
When the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to.press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed
And lie listening to the patter
Of the soft rainoverhead!
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart:
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof.
As Ilisten to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof.
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
0! Ifeel her fond look on me
As Ilist to this refrain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.
COATES KINNEY
GLOSSARY
tinkle: short, light ringing sounds
shingles: rectangular wooden tiles used on roofs
woof: weft, i.e. thethreads woven acrOss the loom,
ere: old poctic word for 'before'
reiraln: a repeated part of a song or a poem: here, the sound of the ran
list: old poetie word for listen'
Thinking about the Poem
I. 1. What do the following phrases mean to you? Discuss in class.
(i) humid shadows
(i)) starry spheres
(iii) what a bliss
(iv) a thousand dreamy fancies into busy
being start
(v) a thousand recollections weave their
air-threads into woof
2. What does the poet like to do
when it rains?
3. What is the single major memory that comes to
dreamers" he refers to? the poet? Who are the "darling
4. Is the poet now a child? Is his
mother still alive?
II. 1. VWhen you were a young child, did your
did? mother tuck you in, as the poet's
2. Do you like rain? What do you do
when it rains steadily or heavily as
described in the poem?
3. Does everybody have a cosy bed to lie in
when it rains? Look around you and
describe how different kinds of people or animals spend time, seek shelter
etc. during rain.
All that I am or ever hope it be, I owe to må
angel Mother.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
Beehure
