Flute-Priest Song For Rain
Amy Lowell 1874 (Brookline) – 1925 (Brookline)
Whistle under the water,
Make the water bubble to the tones of the flute.
I call the bluebirds song into the water:
Wee-kee! Wee-kee-kee!
Dawn is coming,
The morning star shines upon us.
Bluebird singing to the West clouds,
Bring the humming rain.
Water-rattles shake,
Flute whistles,
Star in Heaven shines.
I blow the oriole's song,
The yellow song of the North.
I call rain clouds with my rattles:
Wee-kee-kee, oriole.
Pattering rain.
To the South I blow my whistle,
To the red parrot of the South I call.
Send red lightning,
Under your wings
The forked lightning.
Thunder-rattles whirl
To the sky waters.
Fill the springs.
The water is moving.
Wait -
Whistle to the East
With a magpie voice.
Wee-kee! Wee-kee-kee!
Call the storm-clouds
That they come rushing.
Call the loud rain.
Why does it not come?
Who is bad?
Whose heart is evil?
Who has done wickedness?
I weep,
I rend my garments,
I grieve for the sin which is in this place.
My flute sobs with the voice of all birds in the water.
Even to the six directions I weep and despair.
Come, O winds, from the sides of the sky,
Open your bird-beaks that rain may fall down.
Drench our fields, our houses,
Fill the land
With tumult of rain.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on April 20, 2023
- 1:05 min read
- 122 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | axaBcdef xgxxxgxf hxcicxxicx xxBecf xxhdxxxaxxxxxf |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,156 |
Words | 218 |
Stanzas | 5 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 10, 6, 14 |
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"Flute-Priest Song For Rain" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 13 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/2221/flute-priest-song-for-rain>.
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