“The Rainy Day” (1842)

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

How often has one come across a Longfellow poem that speaks of hope and optimism after taking us through gloomy lanes and cloudy circumstances? Relatively young at the time of this publication, the poet prefers the lines to be conveyed from the viewpoint of an old, ageing person pondering over his past and youth. Drawing a parallel between life and a bleak day works out well where the ‘vine’ symbolises ‘thoughts’ and ‘dead leaves’ are helpless as is the lost youth. A major portion of the poem relies on metaphorical effect, quite clearly an inherent skill of great Romantic bards. The closing quintain is a boost – everyone is put through rough patches to be able to win ; the universal anthem being that adversity (referred to as the rain) is inevitable and is the mother of success, for the lessons of ‘dark days’ are what bear the bright ones.