There were a few glorious weeks when it appeared as if September and October were to be bathed in a glorious Indian summer glow. Then the rain came.
And with it, travel disruptions, waterproofs and big umbrellas, soggy socks and windswept faces. We can’t say rainy days are our favourite, but there is something cathartic about a downpour – especially when your huddled up inside with a warm drink and classic film, listening to its pitter patter on the window.
MORE: Why this photograph of a rainy northern city scene has so many captivated – including Stephen Fry
Rain wipes the slate clean; in some cultures and faiths signifying something extremely positive. For the Anasazi – a Native American culture – for example, rain was held to be sacred. The Anasazi culture viewed rain as a gift from the Rain God, as without it their crops would dry up.
Ever heard of a rain dance? That’s rooted in an ancient ritual, historically performed by tribes in North America, as well as other countries with a warmer climate, like China and Africa. In fact, the power to make rain was traditionally fell on the Kings themselves. Some dancing skills.
“expect sadness like you expect rain. both, cleanse you”
It’s a topic that’s well covered in literature and poetry, with the rain often taking on a bigger meaning. Take a look at our favourite rainy day quotes and poems from some of our favourite authors if you’re feeling a little gloomy about the weather; it might not be so bad after all.
Our favourite rainy day quotes
- I think rain is as necessary to the mind as to vegetation. My very thoughts become thirsty, and crave the moisture. John Burroughs
- Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain. Vivian Greene
- Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book. Bill Watterson
- Being soaked alone is cold. Being soaked with your best friend is an adventure. Emily Wing Smith
- expect sadness like you expect rain. both, cleanse you. Nayyirah Waheed
- Rain is good for vegetables, and for the animals who eat those vegetables, and for the animals who eat those animals. Samuel Johnson
- A rainy day is like a lovely gift — you can sleep late and not feel guilty. Elizabeth Jane Howard
- Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet. Bob Marley
- I think that the world should be full of cats and full of rain, that’s all, just cats and rain, rain and cats, very nice, good night.
Rainy day poems
Like Rain it sounded till it curved Emily Dickinson
Like Rain it sounded till it curved
And then I new ’twas Wind
It walked as wet as any Wave But swept as dry as sand
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When it had pushed itself away
To some remotest Plain
A coming as of Hosts was heard
It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
It warbled in the Road
It pulled the spigot from the Hills
And let the Floods abroad
It loosened acres, lifted seas
The sites of Centres stirred
Then like Elijah rode away Upon a Wheel of Cloud.
There will come soft rain by Sara Teasdale
(War Time)
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
The First Rain by Yehuda Amichai
The first rain reminds me Of the rising summer dust.
The rain doesn’t remember the rain of yesteryear.
A year is a trained beast with no memories.
Soon you will again wear your harnesses,
Beautiful and embroidered, to hold Sheer stockings: you Mare and harnesser in one body.
The white panic of soft flesh In the panic of a sudden vision Of ancient saints.
