Editor's note
Ranking is generated by Storgy's classification model, which scores each poem's thematic depth on this subject relative to the rest of the corpus. The list is re-indexed weekly as new poems enter the public-domain corpus.
Best poems about — Storgy
Rain.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about rain, ranked by thematic depth. Scored by Storgy's classification model against the rest of the corpus, and re-indexed weekly as new works enter the canon.
The leading three
01
As When a Storm
Archibald Lampman
“Lampman's "As When a Storm" paints a picture of a fierce storm that eventually clears, symbolizing an emotional or spiritual crisis that fades, leaving the spea…”
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02
Rain in Summer
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“A summer rainstorm sweeps across both the city and countryside, and Longfellow captures the distinct ways different people experience it: a sick man, schoolboys…”
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03
The Rainy Day
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“A speaker gazes at a dreary, rainy day and perceives his own somber feelings mirrored in the weather. He feels trapped in memories, witnessing his youthful drea…”
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The complete index
- 04
What the Thunder Said
T. S. Eliot · 1922
This is the fifth and final section of T. S. Eliot's *The Waste Land*, bringing the entire poem to a fragmented and introspective conclusion. A weary group of figures meanders thro…
- 05
Bells in the Rain
Elinor Wylie
Elinor Wylie's "Bells in the Rain" is a short lyric that captures an unusual, almost otherworldly calm on a rainy night, where the sound of bells appears to wash away sadness and r…
- 06
Exposure
Wilfred Owen
**After (Humanized):** Written in the trenches of World War One, "Exposure" portrays soldiers slowly freezing and dying in the open air—not from enemy fire, but from the harsh wint…
- 07
Summer Storm
James Russell Lowell
A summer storm sweeps across a tranquil marsh and river, escalating into a thunderous tempest before disappearing just as abruptly, leaving the moon to glow serenely above. Lowell…
- 08
The Cloud
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A cloud expresses itself, sharing its activities — watering flowers, carrying lightning, reflecting the moon, and creating rainbows — before disclosing that it can never truly die,…
- 09
—the Drowned Lover
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A young woman hurries through a stormy night to meet her lover, Henry, at a lake, only to discover that he has already drowned. The poem follows her hopeful journey, then delivers…
- 10
Ancient Music
Ezra Pound · 1916
A brief, tongue-in-cheek lyric by Ezra Pound that pokes fun at the well-known medieval round "Sumer Is Icumen In." Instead of joyfully welcoming summer, it grumbles about the drear…
- 11
The Waste Land
T. S. Eliot · 1922
*The Waste Land* is a lengthy, fragmented poem that captures a world drained of spirit and energy in the wake of World War I. Eliot weaves together various voices, languages, and m…
- 12
Famous Blue Raincoat
Leonard Cohen
A man pens a late-night letter to the person who had an affair with his wife, addressing him with an unexpected tenderness instead of anger. The letter explores themes of loss, bet…
- 13
Forest Moods
Archibald Lampman
A stroll through a rainy forest uncovers two types of birds singing and two varieties of flowers blooming, with each pair embodying both joy and sadness. Lampman highlights these n…
- 14
There is a copy amongst the Shelley manuscripts at the Bodleian
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley shouts for his wife Mary amidst a fierce mountain storm, depicting the Apennine range as a quiet, gray ridge during the day that morphs into a fearsome, storm-walking giant…
- 15
An Ember Picture
James Russell Lowell
A man reflects on a fleeting, ordinary meeting with a woman he crossed paths with after a night at the theatre. He didn't pay much attention to her then, but he can't shake the ima…
- 16
Ballad of Another Ophelia
D. H. Lawrence
A young woman, echoing Shakespeare's Ophelia, has been lured in and left behind, and the poem narrates her experience through the imagery of a rainy orchard, a brown hen mourning h…
- 17
Restlessness
D. H. Lawrence
A man stands at the entrance of his room late at night, overwhelmed by a deep, unnameable hunger that the comfort of indoors can't fulfill. He steps into the rainy darkness, search…
- 18
—victoria
Percy Bysshe Shelley
A narrator sits alone at night as a violent storm rages outside, and he is visited by the ghost of a woman named Victoria, whom he seems to have murdered. The poem serves as a Goth…
- 19
A Passing Bell
D. H. Lawrence
A grieving parent attempts to connect during a small, everyday moment with a child who has recently passed away, only to be met with the harsh reality of that loss. The poem shifts…
- 20
Brooding Grief
D. H. Lawrence
A speaker stands outside on a rainy street when a falling leaf jolts him out of a dark daydream. He had been imagining himself beside his dying mother, witnessing her struggle — or…
- 21
The Bridge of Cloud
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A man relaxes by his evening fire and drifts into a daydream where he walks on cloud bridges, pursuing the ghost of someone he has lost. The figure always eludes him, and when he r…
- 22
The Mystic Blue
D. H. Lawrence
In "The Mystic Blue," D. H. Lawrence portrays bursts of blue light—like sparks, raindrops, rainbows, and dolphins—emerging from a deep, dark sea. Through these images, he illustrat…
- 23
The Poet and His Songs
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Longfellow likens the way poems come to a poet to the natural wonders that appear without anyone calling for them — like spring birds, nighttime stars, and rain falling from clouds…
- 24
Gerontion
T. S. Eliot · 1920
An old man who has never truly lived—never fought, never felt, never believed—sits in a decaying house, pondering history, faith, and the gradual decline of his inner life. He obse…
- 25
Song
H. D. · 1921
H.D.'s "Song" is a brief love poem that layers images from nature—grain, rain, apple blossoms, honeycomb—to express the speaker’s deep admiration for someone. Each comparison loops…
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