Classic and Contemporary Poetry
A SUDDEN SHOWER, by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY Poet Analysis Poet's Biography First Line: Barefooted boys scud up the street Last Line: A dripping rooster on one leg. Alternate Author Name(s): Johnson Of Boone, Benj. F. Subject(s): Nature; Rain | ||||||||
BAREFOOTED boys scud up the street Or skurry under sheltering sheds; And schoolgirl faces, pale and sweet, Gleam from the shawls about their heads. Doors bang; and mother-voices call From alien homes; and rusty gates Are slammed; and high above it all, The thunder grim reverberates. And then, abrupt, -- the rain! the rain! The earth lies gasping; and the eyes Behind the streaming window-pane Smile at the trouble of the skies. The highway smokes; sharp echoes ring; The cattle bawl and cow-bells clank; And into town comes galloping The farmer's horse, with steaming flank. The swallow dips beneath the eaves And flirts his plumes and folds his wings; And under the Catawba leaves The caterpillar curls and clings. The bumblebee is pelted down The wet stem of the hollyhock; And sullenly, in spattered brown, The cricket leaps the garden-walk. Within, the baby claps his hands And crows with rapture strange and vague; Without, beneath the rose-bush stands A dripping rooster on one leg. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...DISTANT RAINFALL by ROBINSON JEFFERS CHAMBER MUSIC: 32 by JAMES JOYCE HEAVY SUMMER RAIN by JANE KENYON CROWD CORRALLING by MARGARET AVISON THE RAIN-POOL by KARLE WILSON BAKER ON THE GREAT ATLANTIC RAINWAY by KENNETH KOCH A BOY'S MOTHER by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY |
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