Loud roared the dreadful thunder,

The rain a deluge showers.

Andrew Cherry (1762-1812): The Bay of Biscay.

A feeling of sadness and longing

That is not akin to pain,

And resembles sorrow only

As the mist resembles the rain.

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): The Day is done.

In winter, when the dismal rain

Comes down in slanting lines,

And Wind, that grand old harper, smote

His thunder-harp of pines.

Alexander Smith (1830-1867): A Life Drama. Sc. ii.

The quality of mercy is not strain'd,

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:

It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.

'T is mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes

The throned monarch better than his crown;

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,

The attribute to awe and majesty,

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;

But mercy is above this sceptred sway,

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,

It is an attribute to God himself;

And earthly power doth then show likest God's,

When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,

Though justice be thy plea, consider this,

That in the course of justice none of us

Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;

And that same prayer doth teach us all to render

The deeds of mercy.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act iv. Sc. 1.

What more felicitie can fall to creature

Than to enjoy delight with libertie,

And to be lord of all the workes of Nature,

To raine in th' aire from earth to highest skie,

To feed on flowres and weeds of glorious feature.

Edmund Spenser (1553-1599): Muiopotmos: or, The Fate of the Butterflie. Line 209.

1 W.  When shall we three meet again

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

2 W.  When the hurlyburly's done,

When the battle's lost and won.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act i. Sc. 1.

In winter, when the dismal rain

Comes down in slanting lines,

And Wind, that grand old harper, smote

His thunder-harp of pines.

Alexander Smith (1830-1867): A Life Drama. Sc. ii.

Ladies, whose bright eyes

Rain influence, and judge the prize.

John Milton (1608-1674): L'Allegro. Line 121.

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): The Rainy Day.

For the rain it raineth every day.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Twelfth Night. Act v. Sc. 1.

As full-blown poppies, overcharg'd with rain,

Decline the head, and drooping kiss the plain,—

So sinks the youth; his beauteous head, deprest

Beneath his helmet, drops upon his breast.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Iliad of Homer. Book viii. Line 371.

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): The Rainy Day.

The world goes up and the world goes down,

And the sunshine follows the rain;

And yesterday's sneer and yesterday's frown

Can never come over again.

Charles Kingsley (1819-1875): Dolcino to Margaret.

Weep no more, nor sigh, nor groan,

Sorrow calls no time that's gone;

Violets plucked, the sweetest rain

Makes not fresh nor grow again.

John Fletcher (1576-1625): The Queen of Corinth. Act iii. Sc. 2.

The thirsty earth soaks up the rain,

And drinks, and gapes for drink again;

The plants suck in the earth, and are

With constant drinking fresh and fair.

Abraham Cowley (1618-1667): From Anacreon, ii. Drinking.