The Rain

Summary and Explanation

Nature and the hardships of the poor are “W.H Davies” favorite themes .In this poem, he also
expresses his clear and lovely views about nature and social discriminations.
The poem offers denotative contrasts between the rain and the sun dark and light, high and
low, rich and poor. The contrast of “despair” and “hope” makes the poem as artistic as didactic.
First of all, when rain falls on trees, millions of raindrops dangle from leaves. But the sun is not
visible. It’s a gloomy, dark environment. The falling drops create “a sweet noise to hear”. The
top leaves “drink” the rainwater first. They trickle down the rest of it to the lower leaves. This
way the top leaves drop down the rain to the lower leaves. Furthermore, the rich take care of
the poor.
As the rain stops, the sun comes out, it gives the scene a new life and luster. The “dark round
drops” hanging from trees start twinkling in the sunlit surrounding. Though contrasting with the
scene set by the rain, the sunlit sight is no less than beautiful. The poet suggests that care of the
poor by the rich actually shatter the clouds of despair and make the sun of hope shine. As such,
the poet has juxtaposed despair and hope by using rain and sun as metaphors for despair and
hope respectively.
Optimistically, the poet says that poverty will end up and happiness will set in. In addition, the
poem is embedded with picturesque quality, contrasts, comparisons, imagery, metaphors,
melody and rhyme. The poem’s diction is simple.
As William Words Worth says that
“One impulse of a vernal wood May teach you more of man of moral, evil and of good than all
the sages can”

BY: Hafiz Haseeb

English Linguist
hhh_949@yahoo.com
The Academy Kamoke
+92-300-77-949-77