RAIN ON THE ROOF
By- Coates Kinney
Useful Expression
starry spheres – An area in the sky where stars appear in a group.
What a bliss — A pleasing movement that the poet is unable to forget.
a thousand dreamy fancies’ Into busy starting, — The poet remembers his past and finds himself lost in imagination.
a thousand recollections ‘Weave their air-threads into woof, — A chain of memories that visit the poet’s mind during the rainy season.
… darling dreamers — Refers to children who love and remember their mother equally like the poet.
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Paraphrasing
STANZA
When the humid shadows hover
Overall 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 like listening to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!
MEANING
When the sky is covered with dark clouds, the shimmering light of stars seems to be the round visible source of light. The darkness mourns sadness but the sweet rain comes with peace to solace the lonely night. At this moment, the poet likes to enjoy the joy and pleasure of sleep. He wants to lie on his bed and enjoy perfect rest. He can sleep with a sound like a child and hear the patter of sweet raindrops falling on the roof.
STANZA
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 I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof
MEANING
Every tinkle of raindrops that fall on the tin roof produces an echo in the poet’s heart. The sweet memory of his childhood evaporates in his mind. With such feeling and imagination, he hears the patter of the rain on the roof.
STANZA
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agorae,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! I feel her fond look on me
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.
MEANING
In this stanza, the poet remembers his mother. Many years ago, during the poet’s childhood, his mother used to look down at him and her other children. His mother would look at them every night, for she knew she would not see them again till the next morning. The poet stresses how his mother would watch over him. The memory is evoked as he listens to the repetitive sound of raindrops as they are falling on his roof.
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