In Emily Dickinson's "Like Rain it sounded till it curved," a huge rainstorm unsettles a whole landscape, sometimes playfully, sometimes chaotically. A storm, the poem suggests, can feel world-altering—and so too, perhaps, can a symbolic inner storm of thought or feeling. Like most of Dickinson's work, this poem didn't appear in print until many years after her death; this one only appeared in 1945, in the posthumous collection Bolts of Melody.
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1Like Rain it sounded till it curved
2And then I knew 'twas Wind—
3It walked as wet as any Wave
4But swept as dry as sand—
5When it had pushed itself away
6To some remotest Plain
7A coming as of Hosts was heard
8That was indeed the rain—
9It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
10It warbled in the Road—
11It pulled the spigot from the Hills
12And let the Floods abroad—
13It loosened acres, lifted seas
14The sites of Centres stirred
15Then like Elijah rode away
16Upon a Wheel of Cloud.
1Like Rain it sounded till it curved
2And then I knew 'twas Wind—
3It walked as wet as any Wave
4But swept as dry as sand—
5When it had pushed itself away
6To some remotest Plain
7A coming as of Hosts was heard
8That was indeed the rain—
9It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
10It warbled in the Road—
11It pulled the spigot from the Hills
12And let the Floods abroad—
13It loosened acres, lifted seas
14The sites of Centres stirred
15Then like Elijah rode away
16Upon a Wheel of Cloud.
Like Rain it sounded till it curved
And then I knew 'twas Wind—
It walked as wet as any Wave
But swept as dry as sand—
When it had pushed itself away
To some remotest Plain
A coming as of Hosts was heard
That was indeed the rain—
It filled the Wells, it pleased the Pools
It warbled in the Road—
It pulled the spigot from the Hills
And let the Floods abroad—
It loosened acres, lifted seas
The sites of Centres stirred
Then like Elijah rode away
Upon a Wheel of Cloud.
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
The Poem in Manuscript — See an image of the poem in Dickinson's own handwriting.
The Poem Set to Music — Listen to a musical interpretation of the poem.
The Emily Dickinson Museum — Visit the website of the Emily Dickinson Museum to find a wealth of knowledge on Dickinson's life and work.
A Portrait of Dickinson — See the only confirmed portrait of Dickinson: a daguerrotype taken when she was a teenager.
A Brief Biography — Learn more about Dickinson via the Poetry Foundation's short biography.