Literary Analysis: The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The poem “Summer Rain” is about a driver stuck in traffic who, to pass the time, actually looks at the environment around him. In the end the accident is cleared and he moves on.

John Foulcher writes interesting poetry because he can make the reader see, feel, and think. Summer Rain , demonstrate to the reader that Foulcher’s poetry is not only thought provoking and realistic, but it is also able to capture aspects of society through his unique use of imagery.

In the short story “On the Rainy River” by Tim O’Brien he has a way of portraying certain events with great imagery. He uses this imagery to affect the overall tone of the story. O’Brien shows examples of this from receiving his draft letter, his place of work, and describing what he sees throughout his journeys. The day that O’Brien got his draft letter helps to set the tone in the beginning.

Longfellow includes this information to let the reader know that today may be peaceful and well, and then tomorrow everyone could be dead. Another way Longfellow creates suspense within his poem is using repetition towards the end of the story. In stanzas 9-11, at

The poem focuses around the author’s childhood memory of his school day. However, there is a much deeper meaning to his typical school day as he remembers vividly the repetition of events surrounding him in the classroom. He remembers the day being dark, gray, and rainy, instantly setting the tone of the poem. With dark images like the gray sky, continuous rainfall, and the continuous children’s choir

Overcast sky, dark wind, cold light, and gloomy actions are the characteristics and effects of a rainy day. Rain is often the precursor to disaster in a story because of the natural feelings of sadness that it brings. Therefore, it is appropriate that a rain motif should be present in “There Will Come Soft Rains”, written by Ray Bradbury. The rain makes a subtle but important appearance in the story, which allows certain events and objects to express their feelings more adequately in the themes of emptiness and the rising power of technology.

Romantic poetry is characterized by its length and verbosity, its use of sentimental imagery and themes, and its wistful tone. Moreover, romantic poetry tends to romanticize the past, longing for a time that is more innocent and pure than the big bad future. The past can be relatively recent, as in the times of mothers and grandmothers; or the past may refer to the classical era of history and ancient civilizations. During a time of industrialization and urbanization, a more pastoral past also became a common subject for discussion. A return to a simpler life, and an appreciation for nature, were also themes shared by all the romantic era poets. John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Snow-bound" fills all the criteria for romantic poetry, and may even be the quintessential American romantic era poem. In "Snow-bound," a family is trapped inside their New England cabin. They use the opportunity for self-reflection, musing on the past, and bonding over their experiences. Natural imagery pervades the poem, which is narrative in style and epic in scope.

One of the first items the author states is that all symbolism is intentional, there are no accidents when it comes to analyzing famous literature. He describes certain authors like James Joyce and T.S. Elliot as “intentionalists” or writers who purposely try to control every part of the story through symbolism. The author Thomas Foster teaches us never to overlook anything in a novel even if it be little things like the color shirt they are wearing or what the weather is like outside. Building more off the last statement, precipitation, whilst being a little detail added into a story, holds a lot of important roles in moving the story along and even providing hardships for characters to overcome. Even more than that though, he says “It’s never just rain”, rain provides as a symbol in the story so that if someone is in the rain it’s almost as if they are being cleansed.

Geoff Goodfellow is a famous Australian poet named the peoples poet who has had a hard and eventful life. His biggest battle to date is his recent battle with cancer. He got told that his life was about to come to an end in the next five years but what he had got taught from growing up in the northern streets of Adelaide was to never back down from a fight and this was going to be his biggest battle to date.

While Doodle and the narrator were in the boat, the author described the setting: “black clouds began to gather in the southwest, and [Doodle] kept watching them, trying to pull the oars a little faster” (394). The black clouds represented ominousity. They warned that a storm was coming, but they also foreshadowed that something unfortunate would occur to Doodle and the narrator. As Doodle rowed the oars to avoid the clouds and the coming storm, he was representing his struggle to hold onto life to please his brother and avoid his death, even though he knew the end was near. Doodle’s death was also foreshadowed by the summer’s weather overall. The year that Doodle was to die, “the summer of 1918, was blighted. In May and June there was no rain and the crops withered, curled up, and died” (391). This represented Doodle’s future, because he was withered like the crops. Just like the crops died because they were not given enough water, Doodle died because he was not given enough love. The narrator was repelled by Doodle, and only helped him out of selfishness. However, after the crops died, the people that depended on them would starve. This symbolized how the loss of Doodle would fill his family with sadness and longing for him. Therefore, Hurst used the weather to contribute not only to the setting, but also to the development of the

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow incorporates religious themes into his poetical work. His religious beliefs were in favor of his Christian faith, unlike others who found all the negative aspects of Catholicism. His poetical works such as "Christus", "The Divine Tragedy" and "The Bells of San Blas" show his positivity toward the Catholic church. In Longfellow 's life, he went through periods of depression as a reaction to his wives ' deaths. During these times of sorrow, Longfellow turned to his faith which helped him move through the mourning process. In Longfellow 's pre-poet days, he served as a priest and went to college attending a religious class. Longfellow took his religion seriously, and expressed his fealty through his work.

­­A Summer Afternoon is an elegant poetry written by James Whitcomb Riley(1849-1916) who was not only an American poet but also multiple writers such as humorist, essayist, short story writer, and journalist. His lack of education leads his poems to dialect and common sentimental language which adds more literary merit into his work.

When I began to interpret the meaning of this poem the biggest thing that stands out is the storm and the rain which could mean that the narrator is depressed or very sad. I think in this poem the narrator drinks a lot and is under the influence of alcohol. In the beginning of the poem he talks about an overflowing wineglass although all of the wine either spilled out or he drank it all but considering he is drunk I would assume that he drank it all. When you combine the alcohol with being depressed is what the feeling of the poem really is. Through the poem the narrator talks about his drinking and how his depression is consuming him. Depression is when you’re feeling really sad about your life or something in your life. In the middle of the poem it says “Over the table’s scales of rust, Shining like chained sores” which would mean that the drinking is an old habit and he has been following the pattern of getting drunk and being depressed for a long time. Rust forms when water continuously sits on a table and the more the water the more the rust forms so that would represent how often he gets drunk and depressed with the depression continues to

“Storm Warnings,” true to its literal subject matter, possesses flowy sweeping syntax created by the strategic use of commas and phrasing to draw parallels between the physical oncoming winds and the gales of life. The author crafts a long run-on sentence that spans the first stanza and carries on into the latter portion of the second to mirror the continuous flowing of windy weather and the forward motion of life. Once the speaker notices the brewing storm, they “walk from window to closed window, watching boughs strain against the sky.” In this portion of the affromented run-on sentence, alliteration, rhythm, and the repetition of words all contribute to the impression of movement. The various “w” sounds at the beginnings of words and the repetition of the word “window” create a sensation of continuously flowing forward, especially when read aloud; the comma adds a small swirling pause to the rhythm, which is then soon after resumed with the word “watching.” Just as the poem rhythmically moves forward with its long phrases connected with frequent commas, so must life carry on with each additional experience, whether it be misfortunes or joys. The elongated syntax allows all these elements to work together within sentences to highlight the similarities between physical storms and emotional struggle and to stress the inevitability of predicaments in life.

When reading this poem you will get a very vivid image of a warm summer morning because of the words "sunny, summer and dried the dew." A girl is in a field running carelessly with a silk dress on that sways as the breeze blows. She is tall and slender as a "cedar pole." Who has a very carefree spirit is "strictly held by none". A girl who is completely at peace because everything in her life is going well "by countless silken ties of love and thought to everything on earth the compass round."