XLI. OUT IN THE RAIN 



"Rain! Rain! 

 Oh, sweet Spring rain! 

 The world has been calling for thee in vain 

 Till now, and at last thou art with us again. 

 Oh, how shall we welcome the gentle showers, 

 The baby-drink of the first-born flowers, 

 That falls out of heaven as falleth the dew, 

 And touches the world to beauty anew? 

 Oh, rain! rain! dost thou feel and see 

 How the lingering world has been waiting for thee? 



How streamlets whisper and leaves are shaken, 



And winter-sleeping things awaken, 



And look around, and rub their eyes, 



And laugh into life at the glad surprise; 



How the tongues are loosened that late were dumb, 



For 'the time of the singing of birds has come' ; 



How every tender flower holds up, 



In trembling balance, its tiny cup, 



To catch the food that in sultry weather 



Must hold its little life together? 



Oh, blessings on thee, thou sweet Spring rain, 



That callest dead things to life again! " 



— James Brown Selkirk (Rain). 



From the point of view of thirsty things, the best weather 

 is the day of rain. The earth grows brown and sere, waiting 

 for it. Growth ceases. The cattle languish. The farmer 

 scans the sky anxiously, looking for clouds that promise 

 refreshment ; for water is life's prime necessity. 



The rain comes with phenomena of great impressiveness. 

 Were such things to be seen at only one place in the world, 

 men would travel the world over to see them. Bold thunder- 

 clouds rise, with crests as white as snow, resting on banks 

 as black as ink. The lightning flashes and the thunder 

 rolls. The landscape darkens and the rain descends. Zig- 

 zag flashes cleave the blackness only to intensify it. There 

 is a scent of ozone from overhead, and the scent of the ground 

 comes up from below. It rains. And then the clouds lift a 



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