April Rain / Lew Sarett

April Rain

Through a temperamental April night
I tossed upon my attic bed,
And gave myself to the rattle of rains
    On the gable overhead.

Rains of all moods slipped by: gray rains
That walked the eaves on panther paws;
Stony blue rains that scraped the tin
    With the sound of a grizzly's claws.

Whimpering rains that tried the latch
And fumbled at each window-hook,
Or slid with the belly of a snake
    Into each cranny and nook.

High-stepping rains like prancing steeds;
Rains that went galloping down the roof,
That shook the earth like buffalo-herds
    With thunder of flinty hoof.

The torrent ceased; and something dark
Depressed me, something in the dregs
Of April dripping from the eaves
    Into the rain-water kegs.

So hollow the sullen drop on drop,
So melancholy in the gloom,
I lit a candle and strove to drive
    The shadows from the room.

~~
Lew Sarett (1888-1954)
from Collected Poems, 1941

[Poem is in the public domain in Canada and the United States]

Lew Sarett biography

ako-aleko, "Night Rain," April 2011. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.