O, Western wind
'O Western wind, when wilt thou blow
That the small rain down can rain?
Christ, that my love were in my arms,
And I in my bed again'.
Where does the power lie in this short verse, making it one of the most popular poems of our time?
Believed to have been written in Tudor times, its yearning and longing connect to a universal need.
The 'Western wind', which is beneficent, warm, capable of bringing 'the small rain' and soft nourishment, is invoked.
A nebulous plea is given reality by the sound of the speaking voice.Though a drought has been suffered, healing is possible, a blessing brought by the wind.
The use of the word 'Christ' gives a spiritual dimension, an intensity, strengthening the emotional
need.
Finally, the desire to be in bed, a place of birth and death, the beginning and ending of life, but also of greatest security concludes the poem.
This poem works for me on many levels and I interpret it according to my version of reality.
