The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A speaker compares a cold, rainy day and falling leaves to thoughts clinging to the past and the loss of youthful hopes. The speaker then urges the sad heart to stop repining, recalling that the sun still shines behind clouds and that everyone faces dark days.
By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 175 words
First lines
The day is cold, and dark, and dreary / It rains, and the wind is never weary; / The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, / But at every gust the dead leaves fall, / And the day is dark and dreary.
My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; / It rains, and the wind is never weary; / My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past, / But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, / And the days are dark and dreary.
Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; / Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; / Thy fate is the common fate of all, / Into each life some rain must fall, / Some days must be dark and dreary.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Three rhymed stanzas move from a rainy scene to the speaker's sadness and direct address to the heart.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker reflects on lost youthful hopes before recognizing sorrow as a shared part of life.
Tags
rain · melancholy · youthful hopes · consolation
What this Textopian page supports
The Rainy Day is listed on Textopian as a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 175 words
- Structure: 1 section, 3 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph