Like the touch of rain she was
On a man's flesh and hair and eyes
When the joy of walking thus
Has taken him by surprise:
With the love of the storm he burns,
He sings, he laughs, well I know how,
But forgets when he returns
As I shall not forget her 'Go now'.
Those two words shut a door
Between me and the blessed rain
That was never shut before
And will not open again.
This poem is actually about Edward Thomas's life. Edward died in 1917, in the battle of Arras in northern France, when he was 39. This poem was inspired by his loving friendship with Eleanor Farjeon. It's describing the incident where he was separated with her through the war, and never came back. "Go now" is what Eleanor said when Edward was leaving, and those two words dismissed him from their loving relationship, only to never come back again. This is a beautiful poem expressing the grief side of my theme, but it's interesting in that it uses rain as a beautiful, positive symbol that is the woman, or Eleanor in the case of Edward. It then inflicts a feeling of despair as he's forever separated from what he loved, with two words lingering at the back of his head--"Go now."
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