Appreciation of the poem Song of the Rain by Khalil Gibran

Nature presents her gifts in various forms. Among the precious gifts of her, nothing comes as delightful as rain. It touches human lives like no other natural phenomenon. ‘Song of the Rain’, a poem written by the famous poet Khalil Gibran does justice to these statements. The poem is in the form of a letter where rain introduces itself.

          In the first two stanzas he discusses the external beauty of rain. The narration is in first person which begins by saying “I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven by Gods.” Nature, the mother of all is described as adorning her fields and valleys with rain. The rain which talks like a man tells us from where he is taken. The pearly rain says that it is taken from the crown of Ishtar (Eastern goddess of love and fertility) by the daughter of dawn, which is the sun to embellish the gardens, i.e the earth.

         

          In the following stanzas we are mesmerized with the benevolent acts done by rain. Here we find some paradoxical (opposite things) statements like:

‘When I cry the hills laugh;

When I humble myself, the flowers rejoice;

When I bow, all things are elated.’

          These lines are infused (filled with) with so many mental pictures. We understand that the rain is trying to describe his descent. This is sometimes accompanied with (like in a downpour) thunder and lightning that is reflected upon the hills. Rain also says how it instills freshness to all living things through this act.

           Rain then helps us to know how he acts as a messenger of love between the cloud and the field. The two are separated by distance but united with love. The poet describes it as the thirst of one and the ailment of the other.

          The poet then discusses the philosophical side of rain.We then see an analogy (comparison) made by rain. It says that it is like ‘earthly life’ created from the cardianl (main) elements like air, fire, water, earth and space. Therefore just like human life rain also has only a transient life that is limited by a beginning and an end. In the coming lines we fall into the beauty of the concept of giving back to where one is created; rain reaches the sea from where it was created.

          It is obvious since rain comes from heaven that it must possess the good qualities of God. We may also compare rain to a benevolent creature that wishes good to all beings. Therefore despite being so powerful like a king only the sensitive people will be able to understand him better.

          We are then introduced into the scientific processes involved in the formation of rain:
“The heat in the air gives birth to me...”

However, like men who sometimes cause destruction to their own creators rain destroys the heat when it comes down.

-Anjoe-