Thomas connects this insistent and slow spondee rhythm with the word вЂњrainвЂќ: as with вЂњwild rainвЂќ here (repeated again at the end of the poem). So the line scans something like this: вЂњRAIN, MIDnight RAIN, NOTHing BUT the WILD RAINвЂ¦вЂќ. Along with the pauses denoted by the commas in the opening line, this gives the effect of a quickening and slowing of pace- the sort of rhythm you might hear as you listen to sheets of rain against your roof or window in a blustery storm. Here Thomas uses spondee, that is, stressing two syllables in a row, and in poetry the effect of this is often to slow down the pace of a line. The regularity of the iambic pentameter is often challenged by the use of repeated stresses. The second feature is the rhythmical variation in this and other lines. вЂњRainвЂќ alone is repeated throughout the poem seven times, and in this first line as later, the repetition conveys not only the insistent force of the rainstorm outside but the also heightened consciousness of the listener. The first is the repetition of words- вЂњrainвЂќ here, but also вЂњsolitudeвЂќ, and вЂњloveвЂќ- that becomes a feature of the poem. This line introduces two important technical features of the poem. The poemвЂ™s tone is as a consequence disarmingly open, even confessional.

In lyric poetry the use of rain to suggest sadness and melancholy might ordinarily be thought clichГ©d: Thomas is careful, then, to convey his thought and sensations in deliberately pared-down, simple terms. вЂњRain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rainвЂ¦вЂќ: The poem opens describing a rainstorm at night in the kind of plain, conversational language that is a feature of the poem. Another feature of the poem is that it is a monologue, giving us entry into ThomasвЂ™ thoughts in solitude, in which the reader is an implied listener- вЂhearingвЂ™ the immediate fears and thoughts of the poet. To create this effect, Thomas uses repetition, clever internal rhyming and also uses the spondee- a metre where two syllables within a foot have equal weight. He plays with the rhythm and intensity of each line through a number of different means, each intended to give a sense of the increasing and decreasing intensity of the rain on the sounding walls of the hut, and the poetвЂ™s response to this. This is one of the most common verse forms in English, but Thomas experiments with it very effectively. STRUCTURE: вЂRainвЂ™ is written in blank verse- Iambic Pentameter without rhyme.

Instead, in the contemplation of his death and that of others, this late Romantic poem embraces existential questions and modern alienationвЂ“ in other words, the problem of finding a meaning for human existence in a seemingly hostile world. Where he diverges most clearly from the Romantics in вЂRainвЂ™ is an absence of the sublime, or an explicitly spiritual dimension. Like the Romantics, Thomas finds an inspiration in nature that leads him via his memories, emotions and thoughts to a new understanding of the world around him. The rain in вЂRainвЂ™, then, is a part of nature that allows the thoughtful and inward-contemplating Thomas to connect with the wider world (just as, for example, in Samuel Taylor ColeridgeвЂ™s вЂThe Eolean HarpвЂ™, the wind playing on harp strings prompts the poet to wonder if he responds to nature similarly). вЂThe SublimeвЂ™ was the name that was given for this sensation of connecting with a broader, more profound spiritual reality. The Romantics revered nature as a source of beauty and вЂ numinousвЂ™ experience- in nature they sensed the sacred, or God. Romanticism is one of the most broad and influential of all artistic and literary movements, beginning during the second half of the eighteenth century, and placing great emphasis on individual insight, feelings and imagination as a means of understanding the world. Rain: This poem lies within a tradition of Romantic poetry wherein the solitary poet, contemplating or moved by nature, finds himself in connection with a wider world.

The rain and the poetвЂ™s solitude prompt thoughts of those soldiers who are exposed to danger and death in the world outside. In this poem Thomas lies awake at night, listening to the rain falling onto the roof of the hut that he rests within. If love it be towards what is perfect andД¬annot, the tempest tells me, disappoint. Has not dissolved except the love of death, Like me who have no love which this wild rain

Myriads of broken reeds all still and stiff, Rain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rainДЄnd neither hear the rain nor give it thanksД«lessed are the dead that the rain rains upon:Д«ut here I pray that none whom once I loved

Sonnet examples by students about rain