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Poetry Sunday: Summer Rain by Amy Lowell

When I was a young child, we lived in a house with a tin roof so I understand what Amy Lowell is referring to in her poem. Many nights I was lulled to sleep by the hypnotic sound of rain hitting that roof.

The house that I live in now does not have a tin roof, but at least we did finally have a bit of summer rain falling on it Saturday, courtesy of Hurricane Hanna that was churning in the Gulf south of us. It was rain that we badly needed. We could use more, but I'm grateful for the "cool, silver rain" that did fall. 

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 pin-point 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-colored
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!

Comments

  1. Lovely verse - really captures it well.

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  2. I know the relief of a summer rain. Glad it was cool and silver, not at hurricane level.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, a hurricane is exactly what we don't need at the moment with the hurricane of the pandemic raging here.

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  3. We got three inches yesterday, and we may get another inch today. All things considered, not a terrible hurricane.

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    Replies
    1. Not sure how much we got but it wasn’t that much. I’m still hoping for more.

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  4. I've always wanted a tin roof of some kind because the sound of the rain on it... nothing beats that! Love this one!

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    Replies
    1. Tin roofs were very popular on new houses that were built here a few years ago, but I don’t see them so much anymore.

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  5. When I lived in rural Arkansas years ago, I lived in a cabin with a tin roof. Nothing like it. I think I'm starting to see them (fancier than what we had on that cabin) gaining in some popularity in recent years. Nice imagery in that poem.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, the ones in use today are much more sophisticated in design than the one I knew as a child.

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  6. Nice poem. I hope your drought will be solved .... soon.

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    Replies
    1. We did get some relief on the weekend. There is a possibility of more rain this week which would be a good thing.

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  7. I saw your comment on David's blog, and thought you must be in my neighborhood. Indeed you are, at least in a manner of speaking; I'm down in League City. One of my blog readers is practically on your back porch, though. She lives in Stagecoach.

    I enjoyed the poem, and memories of tin roofs. A hill country cabin I visited on a regular basis some years ago had a tin roof, and there were a lot of acorns around. Rain on a tin roof is wonderful; acorns on a tin roof can grow annoying!

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    Replies
    1. It's always good to meet a neighbor. Welcome, neighbor! I'll be paying a visit to your blog.

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