






Song For The Rainy Season by Elizabeth Bishop ( 1911 – 1979 )
Hidden, oh hidden
in the high fog
the house we live in,
beneath the magnetic rock,
rain-, rainbow-ridden,
where blood-black
bromelias, lichens,
owls, and the lint
of the waterfalls cling,
familiar, unbidden.
In a dim age
of water
the brook sings loud
from a rib cage
of giant fern; vapor
climbs up the thick growth
effortlessly, turns back,
holding them both,
house and rock,
in a private cloud.
At night, on the roof,
blind drops crawl
and the ordinary brown
owl gives us proof
he can count:
five times–always five–
he stamps and takes off
after the fat frogs that,
shrilling for love,
clamber and mount.
House, open house
to the white dew
and the milk-white sunrise
kind to the eyes,
to membership
of silver fish, mouse,
bookworms,
big moths; with a wall
for the mildew’s
ignorant map;
darkened and tarnished
by the warm touch
of the warm breath,
maculate, cherished;
rejoice! For a later
era will differ.
(O difference that kills
or intimidates, much
of all our small shadowy
life!) Without water
the great rock will stare
unmagnetized, bare,
no longer wearing
rainbows or rain,
the forgiving air
and the high fog gone;
the owls will move on
and the several
waterfalls shrivel
in the steady sun.
Elizabeth Bishop ( 1911 – 1979 ) is the most meticulous and observant poet of the 20 th Century. Her Poems extend her range of subjects to include poems that contend with such central issues in her life as her sexuality, her age, her drinking, her politics, her mother’s mental breakdown, her decision to live in Brazil, the suicide of Lota de Macedo Soares—subjects she barely or rarely touched on directly in the poems she published. Elizabeth Bishop published only 101 poems in her lifetime and yet is still considered one of the most important and distinguished American poets of the 20th century. She served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1949 to 1950, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1956. and a National Book Award in 1970. At first, the poems can feel detached from experience, so cool and remote is the speaker’s voice, but this impersonality reveals strong emotion below the polished surface. ” Song For The Rainy Season” is a Poem of nature, interconnectivity, as well as solitude. . “Bishop’s poem Song for the Rainy Season, is a grand and subtle rendering of the sovereignty and ubiquity of nature, and the eventual collapse of Bishops’ relationship with Soares , her longtime Brazilian lover Lota de Maceda Soares . At first muddled in the cocoon of the jungle rainforest, the singer is gradually more exposed to the elements and their eventual assault on serenity.” : As written by John Harbison ( Pulitzer prize winner for Music and McArthur Foundation Award Winner ) who composed this poem for musical opera. : ::
In ” Song For The Rainy Season” , She creates an image of a home that is thriving with life but is at the same time completely calm and isolated. This period of time can’t last forever as the final stanza asserts. Bishop tries to present the happiness but with a twist. The joyous feel comes with annoyance too. The imageries in the poem involve the reader with the uplifting mood. The scenes and happenings are interesting.
With the first 4 Lines in the last Stanza : :
the mood of happiness changes to the different and contrasting feelings which with the close of the Stanza whatever joyfullness the reader has received from the Nature and its animal world , becomes thin , weak and weathered. The theme of a poem describes a moral behind writing the poem or lesson learned from the poem.
The theme of this poem is no matter how dark your days may get, the sun will eventually shine through.
“In a dim age
of water
the brook sings loud
from a rib cage”
Bishop put this moral throughout the story which lets all of us know that positivity is needed no matter where you are. We will study all the Six Stanzas herein below : : : :
” Hidden, oh hidden
in the high fog
the house we live in,
beneath the magnetic rock,
rain-, rainbow-ridden,
where blood-black
bromelias, lichens,
owls, and the lint
of the waterfalls cling,
familiar, unbidden.
In a dim age
of water
the brook sings loud
from a rib cage
of giant fern; the vapor
climbs up the thick growth
effortlessly, turns back,
holding them both,
house and rock,
in a private cloud.”: : ( 1 St & 2 Nd Stanza ) :
The speaker is addressing her companion . The house they “live in is hidden in the high fog”. One can understand by that a ” ‘high-stepped’ or ‘house-high‘ fog : : And this house is ” beneath the magnetic rock rain- rainbow 🌈 ridden” : the word “magnetic” defines it as ‘attractable’ to downpour of the rain- ; which falls in to the place alongwith pervasive wetness. Moreover, it is Ridable for the rainbow whenever appearing as if sitting on its back ; which brings magnificent grandeur of heavenly topping over the rain as well as over the rock and the house. In Brazil, where this plant grows in the wild, the Bromeliad is known as the “living fiesta”. An instant burst of joy to the life with a Bromeliad. Indoors as well as outdoors , on your balcony or terrace! The Bromeliad is a real survivor, thriving in the forests of Latin America and Brazil : the rugged Andes range. Flamboyant , cheerful and robust. Bright colours and enchanting shapes. Growing like trees in the wilds. Survived since last 65 millions years. “Lichens” are thallophytic plants appearing as bushy growth on the tree trunks or bare grounds and together on rocks. “Lints” are short fibres that cling to cotton seeds. : : The speaker sees her house beneath the magnetic rock in the rainy season (of Brazil) surrounded by the abundantly widespread , vibrant and colourful plants : the life forms of cheerful Bromelia, lichens , and lint of the waterfalls she is familiar with. Nocturnal “Owls” are the (nightbird of Minerva), animal life she mentions. Everywhere, the “lint of the waterfalls,” or the drops of water, “cling / familiar”. : : : :
In the 2 Nd Stanza , the speaker confirms the wetness once again. In the “dim age of water” : that is in the time of subdued quietness and lusterless soft light, anyone present in such Natural beauty , he or she can hear the “loud singing of the brook” which have appeared from the sword “ferns”: ” from the rib-cage of giant ferns” that is ‘pinnated shapes’ meaning the ‘featherlike’ leaves having leaflets on each side of the common axis .( explained with a picture on top ) : : hence the imagery of rib cage of giant ferns abounded everywhere in the rainy season. “The high”- stepped “fog” creates a Vapour in which the Speaker’s house is fully immersed. The speaker and his companion are in their private ☁️ clouds alongside the thick growth of ferns plants as well as the rock and the house beneath it where the vapour is climbing up and turning back and sideways. : : : :







” At night, on the roof,
blind drops crawl
and the ordinary brown
owl gives us proof
he can count:
five times–always five–
he stamps and takes off
after the fat frogs that,
shrilling for love,
clamber and mount.” ( 3 Rd Stanza ) : : : :
In the 3 Rd Stanza , the speaker undergoes a transition from daytime in to night 🌃 : : The speaker reveals the image of the Brazilian fat frogs through the 3 Verbs : shrill : emitting sharp , high- pitched utterances (calling “for love” ) , clamber for climbing awkwardly with its clasping hands-like forelegs and hindlegs over ( say, the bark of the tree : see the picture posted herein above ) and the 3 rd one : mount : attaching / fixing / setting a support . First , she hears this shrilling and makes climbing images of fat frogs. After that , she hears the stamping (heavy) sounds made by the “ordinary brown Owl” 🦉 “five times – always five he stamps and takes off from “the roof” of (her) “house”( thrust up in the air) which is countable alongside the ” blind drops crawl” she creates the image of the roof : While she prefers to enjoy staying inside and would not go out to see what is happening in the close vicinity of her house. Stamp(ing) refers to the walk ( noisily or angrily, /or ) heavily as herein the poem : the owl stumps through the wet roof in its estimated move of its foots affixing five times heavily and then takes off ( a rainy flight in the Brazilian night 🌃 : An owl hitting the rainy roof amidst the shrilling fat frogs and listening to these sounds from her house and feeling the blind drops crawling down from the roof are the most fascinating crafting of the imageries which takes us on as a Poems’ reader / listener with its freshness of pure and an immediate experience of the rainy night. To quote one blogger , Emily Holtzman : ” This also reminds me of a quote from my favorite book, ‘As I Lay Dying’ : The quote, “How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home,” absolutely floored me the first time I read it, and this specific part of the poem connected so much to this for me, which is why I really loved it.” : : : :

” House, open house
to the white dew
and the milk-white sunrise
kind to the eyes,
to membership
of silver fish, mouse,
bookworms,
big moths; with a wall
for the mildew’s
ignorant map;” ( 4 Th Stanza ) : : : :
In the 4 Th Stanza , the speaker undergoes a transition from nighttime in to the “milkwhite sunrise” : : Normal regular day comprises of a colourful eastview with gradual raising up of the Sun to its high noon which is a bright day with harsh light and glare. In the presence of “high fog” , “climbing vapour” and resultant ‘mist’ after a rainy night, Sun and Sun-shine is not viewable. Hence a ” milk white Sunrise “which is “kind to the eyes” : that is not harsh and is ‘relaxing ‘: : “house, open house,” emphasizes that even though the speaker is in her house, this does not keep them from having a strong connection with nature, because they are able to have an open house – suggestive of her hospitality for all (new) comers for partying. Then she mentions “membership” ,the ‘guest list’ of the visiting ‘creatures’ : “silverfish”, “mouse”, “bookworms”, “big moths” and “mildew” : see the pictures : Here , the rhythm created by “sunrise”and “eyes” is interestingly significant. She finds no relevance of the spreading of mildew on wall of her house. But she is not snippy and doesn’t have to offer any critical view. Yes, she feels for the growth of this tiny life form in rainy humid weather atleast trying to become of something which is expressed in “mildew’s ignorant map” of spreading marks on the wall. See the illustrative picture. : : : :









“darkened and tarnished
by the warm touch
of the warm breath,
maculate, cherished,
rejoice! For a later
era will differ.
(O difference that kills,
or intimidates, much
of all our small shadowy
life!) Without water” : : Stanza 5 : : Lines
5. The speaker continues with her descriptions of the house , its lineament ( characteristics ) distinctively heard , seen and imagined by her creative senses as aforesaid. Mentioned herein are the words : ” darkened and tarnished ” meaning ‘spotty’, ‘defiled’ : : “by the warm touch of the warm breath” , and “maculate” : meaning ‘impure looking soiled’ : In fact , the house after the rainy night is engulfed with the dim cloudy air lacking light. She knows that the impressions which have come along will start disappearing soon. Therefore , the brief distinctive moments should be “cherished as rejoice ! For a later era will differ” and will have different traits. : : ” O difference that kills , or intimidates , much of all our small shadowy life “: she exclaims. As it is not advisable to go out in the surroundings of rainy season , she preferred to spending a night with a companion by her side inside her house. With her fascinating crafted images , she experienced happiness. Small life is filled with many such shades of unclarity immersed with dimness like the one in the raining experiences. Instead of becoming timid and fearful by an intimidating show of forces of the rainy season , she preferred rejoicing with its images. how this “era will differ Without water” is depicted in the final 6 Th Stanza : : : :
“… Without water”
.
“the great rock will stare
unmagnetized, bare,
no longer wearing
rainbows or rain,
the forgiving air
and the high fog gone;
the owls will move on
and the several
waterfalls shrivel
in the steady sun.” : : Stanza 6 : : : :
In the final Stanza , The speaker creates an utter contrast from the very wet rainy season with emergence of the life forms described in the aforesaid 5 Stanza’s lineament underneath the rain to the new era of dryness owing to no raining. What happens without water is explained : The great rock will stare for its bareness and has no longer wearing rainbows and rain. Earlier world of bright and lively world is now dark. The “high fog” and the “forgiving ( kind and tolerant) air” are gone. The “several waterfalls” shrivel in the “steady ( regular going ) sun.” And “the owls will move on”( forward toward the future ) : The patterns in Nature are breakable. Our happy casual connections with bright images are lived out with rejoice and in the same way can lead us to tie in with the contrasting era of unhappy gloomness : The Brightness and A state of partial or complete darkness; Steady and Unsteady ; Appearing and Disappearing and such other differences are much of all our small shadowy life ! : : In the meanwhile let us all understand the importance of protecting and preserving of Our NATURE : : : :
Elizabeth Bishop ‘s “Song For The Rainy Season” : : Information Appreciation and poem Analysis Presented by V Jayaraj Pune India August 26 , 2022 : : : : : : : :













































