Bridge in the Rain (Vincent van Gogh, 1887)
There's no doubt at all here in Seattle - absolutely none - that the "good" weather is gone until, oh, next March. Sure, there will be a few days of sunshine in January that will drive us outside in our shirtsleeves, dancing around, giddy with delight. But we can generally get up in the morning, put on heavy socks and layers of shirts and sweaters, hold our hot coffee cups in our hands as if anything warm were a magic elixir, gaze out the window and expect to see the garden wet, the sidewalks wet, the street wet, and rain coming down. In the spirit of all things wet then, here is a little poem by the wonderful Eve Merriam. I love the fact that Ms. Merriam, whose book Inner City Mother Goose (1971) was once called by its author "just about the most banned book in the country," was rewarded ten years after its publication with the NCTE's Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children.
THE WEATHER Dot a dot dot dot a dot dot Spotting the windowpane. Spack a spack speck flick a flack fleck Freckling the windowpane. A spatter a scatter a wet cat a clatter A splatter a rumble outside. Umbrella umbrella umbrella umbrella Bumbershoot barrel of rain. Slosh a galosh slosh a galosh Slither and slather a glide A puddle a jump a puddle a jump A puddle a jump puddle splosh A juddle a pump a luddle a dump A pudmuddle jump in and slide!
Eve Merriam 1916-1992
-------------------------------------- THE ROUND-UP FOR POETRY FRIDAY MUST BE SOMEWHERE, BUT I CAN'TFIND THE CURRENT LINE UP OF HOSTS. ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEA? IF YOU CAN'T FIND IT EITHER, YOU'RE WELCOME TO LEAVE LINKS HERE IN THE COMMENTS. AHA - THE POETRY ROUND-UP IS AT KELLY HEROLD'S BIG A little a - THANKS FOR POINTING ME THERE, FRIENDS.
I love the poem!
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of rain on windows. It also sounds wonderful on a metal roof (which we had in Iceland.)
I hope you have many days where the sun shoves the clouds aside and winks at you, as well as some colorful rainbows in the next few months.
Kelly said Blogger was acting wonky, but that she would host today at Big A little a (http://www.kidslitinformation.blogspot.com/) You can leave your link in the previous week's post for now.
ReplyDeleteI love the way Merriam's poem evokes the pacing of a rainstorm, from the slow "dot dot" to the rush of a "pudmuddle." My daughter used to love to go out with her galoshes and umbrella and stomp around, rain or no rain.
I have always loved this poem, largely because I can almost feel the rain while I'm reading it. The "slosh a galosh" is just wonderful.
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteMerriam was truly one of the great children's poets. That weather poem has been a favorite of mine--a poem I often shared with my elementary students.
Yesterday, Grace Lin and I spent time with another great children's poet--Mary Ann Hoberman. Mary Ann and Linda Winston are on tour talking about their fabulous new anthology THE TREE THAT TIME BUILT: A CELEBRATION OF NATURE, SCIENCE, AND IMAGINATION. Have you seen the book? I wish it nad been available when I was still teaching.
Here's hoping you'll have more than a few days of sunshine this winter!
BTW, the roundup is at Big A, little a.
First, the Van Gogh is sublime (had never seen it).
ReplyDeleteAnd the poem: BIG LOVE. As Tricia said, slosh a galosh is wonderful. For all the rain, Seattle people seem to have the sunniest of dispositions. :)
I had never seen that Van Gogh either but I had seen this woodcut of "Pedestrians crossing a bridge during a rain storm" on the Library of Congress site:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/ykrzh32
According to the LOC information it was produced between 1890 and 1940 and is a reproduction. Van Gogh's piece is given a date of 1887. Did he see the original or did he see a reproduction that was making the rounds before 1890? Interesting...
Sorry to get off topic! I loved the Merriam poem for its nonsensical musicality.
Diane - Yes, you're right - van Gogh copied it from the Japanese painter, though I supppose van Gogh never meant it for display. He studied his craft this way, reproducing down to the brushstroke the paintings of other artists - so this was not meant to be an original. I often tell my writing students that they should do the same. We can learn a lot by trying to imitate a favorite author, looking at sentence structure, word choice, rhythm and flow - then trying to reproduce their effect it exactly, and then trying to change it and make it our own. van Gogh spent a long period studying Japanese painting, then turned some of their techniques around and made them his own, too.
ReplyDeleteLove this, Julie. We've had a rainier fall than usual here in Minnesota, so this was perfect for our grey days. That wet cat and the bumbershoot barrel of rain--fantastic!
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