Ten Poems about Weather (instead of a card)

The weather is always a good topic of conversation, especially if we don’t know the other person very well. Wherever we are on the planet we can’t help noticing when it’s too hot or too cold or something in between.

In these ten poems we encounter everything from drought to a hurricane, taking in fog, snow and spring sunshine on the way. It goes without saying that there is also more than enough rain. The poems don’t merely describe weather; they also capture how it can induce in us particular feelings and states of mind. In one poem, rain creates a very particular atmosphere:

“I love the privacy of rain,
the way it makes things happen
on verandahs, under canopies
or in the shelter of trees…”
from ‘Privacy of rain’ by Helen Dunmore


The poems are as varied as weather itself, taking us through the changing seasons and relishing the inevitable surprises that come along the way.

Poems by Emily Brontë, John Clare, Gillian Clarke, Helen Dunmore, Norman MacCaig, Graham Mort, Grace Nichols, Sheenagh Pugh,
Neil Rollinson and Annette Volfing.

24 pages

Card cover