The Rainbow Never Tells Me
poem 97
The Rainbow Never Tells Me - meaning Summary
Feeling Over Rational Proof
The poem contrasts abstract reasoning with direct natural evidence. Dickinson presents the rainbow and flowers as more persuasive witnesses than philosophy or classical rhetoric. Natural phenomena disclose conditions and presence—storm, birds, life—that argument and learned forums cannot fully prove. The speaker privileges sensory, lived confirmation over intellectual proof, suggesting that truth can be apprehended through experience and attention to nature rather than through formalized argument alone.
Read Complete AnalysesThe rainbow never tells me That gust and storm are by, Yet is she more convincing Than Philosophy. My flowers turn from Forums Yet eloquent declare What Cato couldn’t prove me Except the birds were here!
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