please explain the poem

The speaker of this poem is seeking to pull back the shadow from life. She wants to make clear to the reader that life is not something to be feared, or some dark dream that one has to dread. The third and fourth lines speak of how something that seems gloomy can foretell something “pleasant” such as a “little morning rain” bringing forth a calm and lovely day.

She gives two additional examples in this stanza. The speaker brings up gloomy clouds that cover the sky, and though these may seems ominous and foreboding, will clear. They are “transient” and do not last forever. Her third example is in the final two lines of this stanza. She ask the question, if the rain means that all the roses will bloom, why should one “lament its fall?” There is no reason to be sad over these elements of life as they will all pass or bring with them something positive.

The second stanza of this piece is written much more lyrically. The words are almost asking to be sung. One can imagine someone dancing, spinning in a circle as they celebrate these phrases.

Life, the speaker says, will “rapidly,” and “merrily” fly by. The hours will pass without notice until suddenly they are gone. The speaker is promoting a way of living in which one appreciates and enjoys each hour that passes.

The final stanza is the longest of this poem and conquers the more daunting part of life, death. The first two complete sentences of this stanza are questions in which the speaker is basically asking,”so what?” So what if “Death at times steps in…?” So what if “sorrow seems to win?” These things are temporary. The speaker is acknowledging that these things exist but she is not allowing them to sway her.

The fifth line of this stanza is more hopefully. She describes hope as having “elastic springs.” Even though “she fell” in sorrow, she will bounce back up again in hope. Her “golden wings” are still “strong” and “buoyant” and will be able to “bear us well.” This character in the poem can be representing the poet herself, or perhaps someone she knows quite personally and has depending on for support in the past, a mother or sister figure. The last four lines of the poem speak of strength in which the speaker is promoting living “fearlessly” and “manfully” (as a strong man would live).

She concludes with, when one’s day of “trial” comes (this could be simply one’s most challenging day or the end times itself in which one will be judged by God) be victorious in courage. No despair can quell the victory one feels when holding on to hope; nothing can touch it, not even death.

Regards