To the Rain, by Ursula Le Guin
To the Rain, by Ursula Le Guin
Mother rain, manifold, measureless,
falling on fallow, on field and forest,
on house-roof, low hovel, high tower,
downwelling waters all-washing, wider
than cities, softer than sisterhood, vaster
than countrysides, calming, recalling:
return to us, teaching our troubled
souls in your ceaseless descent
to fall, to be fellow, to feel to the root,
to sink in, to heal, to sweeten the sea.
— Ursula K. Le Guin
I love using this poem as an unseen with my GCSE English Lit students for the multitude of simple literary devices that they can pick out to comment on. I’ve never got the sense that they love it as much as I do.
Ursula Le Guin is one of my favourite poets (& sci-fi authors!) but the way she writes about the natural world in short, self-contained poetry has always captured my imagination and I love the deeper meaning of the piece that is revealed after the pivot. This is such a sweet poem that speaks to me about community, and remembering what unites us.
Featured Image: Evie spinning in the “Rain Room”, an installation in Shanghai’s Modern Art Gallery in 2018. Sensors prevented the rain from falling directly on top of you, so you had the strangest sensation of standing in the rain while remaining completely dry.
TJC 
What a wonderful poem – had only previously enjoyed her stories, so this is a superb discovery thank you!
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You put me onto her novels so delighted I can share her poetry back!!
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