“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Summary

“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Themes

• 

  The Transformative Power of Nature

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Like Rain it sounded till it curved”

• Lines 1-4

  Like Rain it sounded till it curved
  And then I knew 'twas Wind—
  It walked as wet as any Wave
  But swept as dry as sand—

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 5-8

  When it had pushed itself away
  To some remotest Plain
  A coming as of Hosts was heard
  That was indeed the rain—

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 9-12

  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—

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 13-16

  It loosened acres, lifted seas
  The sites of Centres stirred
  Then like Elijah rode away
  Upon a Wheel of Cloud.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Symbols

• 

  The Storm

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Simile

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• 'Twas
• Remotest
• Hosts
• Warbled
• Spigot
• Abroad
• Acres
• Elijah

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Like Rain it sounded till it curved”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Speaker

“Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Like Rain it sounded till it curved”

More “Like Rain it sounded till it curved” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem in Manuscript — See an image of the poem in Dickinson's own handwriting.

  • The Poem Set to Music — Listen to a musical interpretation of the poem.

  • The Emily Dickinson Museum — Visit the website of the Emily Dickinson Museum to find a wealth of knowledge on Dickinson's life and work.

  • A Portrait of Dickinson — See the only confirmed portrait of Dickinson: a daguerrotype taken when she was a teenager.

  • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Dickinson via the Poetry Foundation's short biography.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Emily Dickinson

  • A Bird, came down the Walk

  • After great pain, a formal feeling comes –

  • A Light exists in Spring

  • A Murmur in the Trees—to note—

  • A narrow Fellow in the Grass

  • An awful Tempest mashed the air—

  • As imperceptibly as grief

  • A still—Volcano—Life—

  • Because I could not stop for Death —

  • Before I got my eye put out

  • Fame is a fickle food

  • Hope is the thing with feathers

  • I cannot live with You –

  • I cautious, scanned my little life

  • I could bring You Jewels—had I a mind to—

  • I did not reach Thee

  • I died for Beauty—but was scarce

  • I dreaded that first Robin, so

  • I dwell in Possibility –

  • I felt a Funeral, in my Brain

  • If I can stop one heart from breaking

  • I had been hungry, all the Years

  • I have a Bird in spring

  • I heard a Fly buzz - when I died -

  • I like a look of Agony

  • I like to see it lap the Miles

  • I measure every Grief I meet

  • I’m Nobody! Who are you?

  • I started Early — Took my Dog —

  • I taste a liquor never brewed

  • It was not Death, for I stood up

  • I—Years—had been—from Home—

  • Much Madness is divinest Sense -

  • My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun

  • Nature is what we see

  • One need not be a Chamber — to be Haunted

  • Publication — is the Auction

  • Safe in their Alabaster Chambers

  • Shipwreck

  • Success is counted sweetest

  • Tell all the truth but tell it slant —

  • The Brain—is wider than the Sky—

  • The Bustle in a House

  • The Mushroom is the Elf of Plants

  • There came a Wind like a Bugle

  • There is no Frigate like a Book

  • There's a certain Slant of light

  • There's been a Death, in the Opposite House

  • The saddest noise, the sweetest noise

  • The Sky is low — the Clouds are mean

  • The Soul has bandaged moments

  • The Soul selects her own Society

  • The Wind – tapped like a tired Man –

  • They shut me up in Prose –

  • This is my letter to the world

  • This World is not Conclusion

  • 'Twas the old—road—through pain—

  • We grow accustomed to the Dark

  • What mystery pervades a well!

  • Whose cheek is this?

  • Wild nights - Wild nights!