Rain
Rain - meaning Summary
Solitude Amid Shared Spectacle
The poem depicts a public outdoor concert interrupted by a storm. While the crowd rushes under cover, disposing of cigarettes and laughing, one man remains alone in the rain, listening as the orchestra continues. The spectators notice him and judge him as if something is wrong. The poem contrasts communal behavior with solitary devotion, suggesting the difficulty of being quietly committed to art amid social expectation and misunderstanding.
Read Complete AnalysesA symphony orchestra. There is a thunderstorm, they are playing a Wagner overture and the people leave their seats under the trees and run inside to the pavilion. The women giggling, the men pretending calm, wet cigarettes being thrown away. Wagner plays on, and then they are all under the pavilion. The birds even come in from the trees and enter the pavilion and then it is the Hungarian Rhapsody #2 by Liszt, and it still rains, but look, one man sits alone in the rain, listening. The audience notices him. They turn and look. The orchestra goes about its business. The man sits in the night in the rain, listening. There is something wrong with him, isn't there? He came to hear the music.
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