Title: There Will Come Soft Rains

Poet: Sara Teasdale

Before you even think about reading the poem or trying to
analyze it, speculate on what you think the poem might be
about based upon the title. Sometimes authors conceal
meaning in the title and give clues in the title.
1. Based upon the title alone, this poem will probably be about:
Rain, sadness, peace, things to come like the future

Title

2. List two questions you have about the title.

1) Will there be rain in this story?
2) Is there a deeper meaning to this title?

Paraphrase

3. Identify any unusual diction (word choice).

Before you begin thinking about meaning or trying to analyze

the poem, dont overlook the literal meaning of the poem.
Dont jump to conclusions before you understand what is
happening in the poem. When you paraphrase a poem, write in
your own words exactly what happens in the poem. Look at
the adjectives used. Look at the number of sentences in the
poem; your paraphrase should have exactly the same number.

Words
Tremulous: shaking or quivering
slightly.

Punctuation

Whims: sudden desire or change of

mind especially one that is unusual
or unexplained.

4. Rewrite each verse into your own words.

Line 1 & 2 : Its raining and birds are singing.
Line 3 and 4: Frogs are croaking, and the flowers on the trees are blowing in the wind.
Line 5 and 6: Red Robins are singing and setting on a fence.

Capitalization

Line 7 and 8: Nature wont know about the war or care about it ending.
Line 9 and 10: Nature wouldnt care if humans were destroyed.
Line 11 and 12: When Spring begins, humans wont be missed.

Connotation is the feelings associated with a word. To find the

connotative meaning of the poem, you need to look for
imagery and figures of speech.
5. Figurative Language (Find at least one example of each)

Connotation

Metaphors

Similes

Personification

Symbols

E: Feathery fire: fire being

compared to red feathers.

E: N/A

E: Spring is being
personified as a woman
waking up.

E: Spring represents new

beginnings.

E:

E:

E:

E:

Imagery: Sight, Taste, Touch, Smell, Hear

E: Sight :feathery fire, tremulous white.

Sounds: shimmering sound, the frog singing, whistling whims
Smell: Smell of the ground
Touch: soft rain

E:

6. Choose three of the examples of figurative language listed above. List the example and comment why you think
the poet used it.
Example
Why did the poet use this comparison?
a.
Feathery fire: Fire being compared to
rred feathers
b.
Spring : Spring is personified by a woman
waking up

Makes a clear and vivid image

c.
Spring represents new beginnings

War has destroyed mankind, but spring still starts

Attitude

7. Decide who the speaker is:

Women give birth and new beginnings

Having examined the poems devices and clues closely, you are now
ready to explore the multiple attitudes that may be present in the
poem. Examination of diction, images, and details suggests the
speakers attitude and contributes to understanding. This can be
expressed by tone words. Use the Tone paper to decide the attitude of
the speaker.
Tone of the Speaker:
Evidence of Tone:
Calm, anger, sadness

Soft rains, frogs singing, mankind

perished, war
Rarely does a poem begin and end the poetic experience in the same
place. As is true of most of us, the poets understanding of an
experience is a gradual realization, and the poem is a reflection of that
understanding or insight.

Shifts

8. Watch for the following keys to shifts:

Key Words
War

Punctuation
semi-colon creates pause in
line 6

Irony
Situational irony: talks
about nature and then
changes to war.

Changes in Sound

Sounds

9. List any sounds that the poet uses:

Alliteration
f
eathery
f
ire
s
oft,
s
mell,
s
wallows,
c
ircling,
s
ound
w
histling,
w
hims,
w
ire

Stanza Divisions

Length Change of Lines

and/or Stanzas
N/A

Changes in Diction
N/A

Changes in Tone
Calm in lines 1-6, anger
and sadness in lines 7-12

N/A

Looking for sound devices helps understand the connotative

meaning of the poem.
Consonance
Pl
um
, Tr
em
ulous,
Wh
i s
tling, Wh
im
s, fen
c
e

What effect do these sounds have on the mood of the poem?

Assonance
W
i
ld, Wh
i
te, W
i
sting Wh
i
ms

10. Stress/ Meter Pattern: Is there a

pattern? If so, list two marked lines from
the poem.

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And
swal
lows
circ

ling
with their
shim
mer
ing
sound;

What feeling does this pattern create?

Song Like
11. Are there any examples of onomatopoeia? What is their
effect? Whistling and shimmering
Lightens the mood

Syntax

12. Rhyme scheme:

Sentence structure of the lines.

13. Choose one stanza to answer the following:

a. How many words are in each line?
Line 1: 11
Line 2: 7

b. What kind of punctuation is being used?

Comma and semi-colon

c. What is the effect of these syntactical elements?

No major effect

14. What is the form of the poem and why did the poet choose that form?
Traditional

15. What is the setting of this poem? List details about time
and place.

Setting

Outside in nature, swallows circling, wild palm trees

Spring time: Spring herself, when she woke up at dawn

16. What new insight does the title provide in understanding

the poem?
Whether we are here or not, nature will continue on

Title

17. Why did the poet choose this title for this poem?
It is mysterious and misleads the reader.

18. Was your initial prediction regarding the title correct?

Explain how or how not.
No because we did not think it would be about war or nature
continuing on afterwards. We did however get some key
elements of the poem.

Theme

19. What is the poet trying to tell the reader? What subject or
subjects does the poem address? What do you learn about
those subjects? What idea does the poet want you to take
away concerning these subjects? State it in a complete
sentence.

Even if mankind perishes, nature will continue on.

20. Use the following acronym to write a well-developed thesis for a paper over how the language contributes to the meaning of the poem.
T Tone: attitude of the author or speaker toward the subject
W Word choice or diction: terms referring to the specific words or clusters of words in the selection that are loaded with connotation,
associations, or emotional impact

I Imagery: a term referring to sense impressions created by the writer

S Style: term referring to the authors characteristic use of language and the tools of a writer: figurative language, point of view, literary
techniques, etc.
T Theme: concerns the meaning of the passage, the insight, both particular and universal, that an author has to offer about life itself and
has to do with the overall effect or impact of a piece of writing.

The theme of this poem has many elements to the meaning