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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE RAIN UPON THE ROOF, by                    
First Line: Long ago a poet dreaming
Last Line: So the rain upon the roof.
Subject(s): Poetry & Poets; Rain


LONG ago a poet dreaming,
Weaving fancy's warp and woof,
Penned a tender, soothing poem
On the "Rain upon the Roof."

Once I read it, and its beauty
Filled my heart with memories sweet;
Days of childhood fluttered round me,
Violets sprang beneath my feet.
And my gentle, loving mother
Spoke again in accents mild,
Curbing every wayward passion
Of her happy, thoughtless child.
Then I heard the swallows twittering
Underneath the cabin eaves,
And the laughing shout of Willie
Up among the maple leaves.
Then I blessed the poet's dreaming --
Blessed his fancy's warp and woof,
And I wept o'er memories treasured,
As the rain fell on the roof.

Years ago I lost the poem,
But its sweetness lingered still,
As the freshness of the valley
Marks where flowed the springtime rill.
Lost to reach, but not to feeling;
For the rain-drop never falls
O'er my head with pattering music,
But it peoples memory's halls
With the old familiar faces
Loved and treasured long ago,
Treasured now as in life's springtime, --
For no change my heart can know.
And I live again my childhood
In the home far, far away;
Roam the woodland, orchard, wildwood,
With my playmates still at play;
Then my gray hairs press the pillow,
Holding all the world aloof,
Dreaming sweetly as I listen
To the rain upon the roof.

Every pattering drop that falleth
Seemeth like an angel's tread,
Bringing messages of mercy
To the weary heart and head.
Pleasant thoughts of years departed,
Pleasant soothings for to-day,
Earnest longings for to-morrow,
Hoping for the far away;
For I know each drop that falleth
Comes to bless the thirsty earth,
Making seed to bud and blossom,
Springing all things into birth.
As the radiant bow that scattereth
All our faithlessness with proof
Of a seedtime and a harvest,
So the rain upon the roof.





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