An analysis of the short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury requires a “There Will Come Soft Rains” poem analysis. Here it is.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” Poetry Analysis Lesson Plan
If you’re looking for a lesson plan, here it is: “There Will Come Soft Rains” Poem Analysis Lesson Plan. It’s part of the unit on “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Ray Bradbury short story.
There Will Come Soft Rains
By Sara Teasdale
There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools singing at night,
And wild plum-trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” Poem Analysis
Sara Teasdale wrote “There Will Come Soft Rains” during World War I, commonly known as the Great War or the War to End All Wars during the time Teasdale wrote the poem. The poem asserts that nature cares not for the wars of humans and that the impending destruction of human kind would not be heeded by Nature.
- The poem consists of 6 stanzas. Each stanza consists of one couplet.
- Each line contains four feet with different stress patterns. The irregular pattern in a mostly consistent foot measure mirrors nature, inasmuch that all is regulated, yet all is unique. Form reflects content.
- The two-word phrase “not one” is repeated three time, emphasizing the absolute irrelevance man has to nature.
- Spring is personified in the final stanza. The final stanza also explicitly states the poem’s theme that man’s absence will mean nothing to nature.
- Alliteration in stanza 3 brings attention to feathery-fire, redolent of war imagery. Wire also conveys images of war, especially during Teasdale’s time period.
- Bradbury’s short story ironically demonstrates this truth. Man’s poisoning of nature remains after they destroy themselves, making it so Nature would not notice the disappearance.
“There Will Come Soft Rains” Short Story Analysis
We’ll throw in a brief analysis of the short story as well.
- Setting – The futuristic setting without humans and a nuclear poisoned atmosphere plays the central role in the story.
- Theme – The story’s primary theme involves the dangers of technology and man’s destructive nature.
- Elements of Science Fiction – The story’s setting, as well as the advanced technology, fits this story in the science fiction genre.
- Sensory Details – Bradbury uses figurative language to make the house seem alive.
- Personification – Bradbury uses figurative language to make the house seem alive.
- Irony – The main irony in the story is that it takes its name from a poem that heralds nature outlasting man; in reality, however, humankind has managed to destroy nature along with itself.
Last Updated on February 22, 2018 by Trenton Lorcher
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