Before the Rain
Thomas Bailey Aldrich
We knew it would rain, for all the morn
A spirit on slender ropes of mist
Was lowering its golden buckets down
Into the vapory amethyst.
Of marshes and swamps and dismal fens—
Scooping the dew that lay in the flowers,
Dipping the jewels out of the sea,
To sprinkle them over the land in showers.
We knew it would rain for the poplars showed
The white of their leaves, the amber grain
Shrunk in the wind—and the lightning now
Is tangled in tremulous skeins of rain!
Perfectly matched painting and poem! The two young women remind me of a scene in Jane Eyre, perhaps because the book takes place in the Victorian age, the age depicted in the picture.
The painting reminded me too of Jane Eyre. The period is the same, yes, but I think they also share a sense of melancholy and of confinement. That sounds terribly morbid; I do like the painting and the poem. (Obviously…) And I love rainy days with a book and a sleeping cat.
I like the part “dipping the jewels out of the sea.” What beautiful imagery!
For me it was the lightning “tangled in tremulous skeins of rain” that moved this poem from the ‘nice’ to the ‘keeper’ category.
“Melancholy,” “confinement,” and “morbid”… hmmm… Yes, that does describe Jane Eyre.
Yes, there are many such metaphors and personifications that move one to the enjoyment of this poem.