Rain falls steadily inside a fenced orchard, and nothing stirs among the dense, untrodden parsley. Large raindrops gleam like diamonds on grass blades, with no one there to shake them or disturb fallen petals. Alone, the speaker feels nearly as happy as possible, searching this quiet wilderness. Yet the scene draws his mind to a memory: two people walking and kissing in the rain, drenched but forgetting the weather entirely. That thought saddens him—he knows he will never again walk so happily in the rain unless he is by himself. As he turns to leave, twilight fades the parsley flowers into ghostly white figures, suspended on their fine stalks, as if the past itself hovers there, briefly revisiting the light. The mood is intensely quiet and bittersweet, a solitary contentment undercut by the ache of lost closeness, with rain becoming both a comfort and a reminder of what’s gone.
It Rains — Summary
IT rains, and nothing stirs within the fence Anywhere through the orchard's untrodden, dense Forest of parsley. The great diamonds Of rain on the grassblades there is none to break, Or the fallen petals further down to shake.
And I am nearly as happy as possible To search the wilderness in vain though well, To think of two walking, kissing there, Drenched, yet forgetting the kisses of the rain: Sad, too, to think that never, never again,
Unless alone, so happy shall I walk In the rain. When I turn away, on its fine stalk Twilight has fined to naught, the parsley flower Figures, suspended still and ghostly white, The past hovering as it revisits the light.