That the small rain down can rain

[flemmings]

The way my mind works: I remember Valery's

Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville

always as

Il pleut dans les rues
Comme il pleut dans mon coeur

With no one crying at all, just a gentle melancholy and nostalgia. Why is rain associated with those two emotions? Even in Ono no Komachi's Nagame seshi ma ni, all resignwd mono no aware. Sun is a sign of happiness, thunder a sign of passion, rain a sign of melancholy, but the emotions aren't inherent in the phenomena at all.

Comments

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I find the rain contemplative. I think it's because the view is blurry and so thoughts turn inward and maybe past-ward.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

Contemplative, yes. But for me at least, contemplation is a large part of nostalgia.

Of course, there's always the aspect of

The sun would not shine
There was no place to play
So we sat in the house
All that cold rainy day

ie there's nothing to *do* on rainy days but be contemplative. ^_^

[mvrdrk.livejournal.com]

As a kid, the rain was the opportunity to go out and jump in puddles and make a mess, totally delightful. I'm waiting for the fall rains so I can go out and wash the car. I'm hoping for a good hard downpour as it'll soften the caked on pollen and help me rinse the soap off. Perhaps it's partly because we lose our capacity to deal with the extra labor of being ridiculous as we become adults, but that might just be me. :)

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I was a more fastidious child, or my mother kept me that way. Making a mess was not an option I'd ever go for. But I hope you get your downpours to wash the guck off.