Storm Ending

“Storm Ending” is a modern interpretation of a pastoral poem that includes descriptions of thunder, flowers, wind, rain, sun, and the earth. The speaker of the poem is only identified through the plural first-person pronoun “our” (Lines 1 and 4). It is unknown how many people this collective involves, which leaves the emphasis on natural elements.

The first line focuses on describing the thunder. The verb describing the action of the thunder is “blossoms” (Line 1), which, through metaphor, creates a connection between thunderclouds and flowers. However, this blossoming is “above our heads” (Line 1). This spatially places the unidentified observers far beneath the thunderclouds, and they are thus in a position without power or control; Humans can only perceive the storm, not control it. This element emphasizes “our” [Line 1} earthly status and, by contrast, elevates the cosmic station of the storm.

The second line describes thundercloud-flowers. The “flowers” (Line 2) are given no specific type or name, but they are “bell-like” (Line 2), which implicitly compares the thunder to a bell tone. Likewise, the flowers are a metaphor for the thunderclouds; this reading builds upon the verb “blossoms” (Line 1) and accords with the descriptor “Great” (Line 2) or, in other words, huge. The vastness of the metaphorical flowers conveys the ascendancy of the thunderclouds far “above our heads” (Line 1). Humans are small in comparison with “[g]reat” (Line 2) atmospheric conditions.

The third line extends the flower metaphor. The description of the flowers now includes the wind—the flowers are “[r]umbling” (Line 3) in it. This diction (word choice) develops the metaphor by complementing the earlier verb choice “Thunder blossoms” (Line 1), while flowers are rumbling. The reverse is expected: flowers blossom and thunder rumbles. The extended metaphor mirrors and merges the two realities.

The fourth line focuses on the auditory element of the poem’s sensory description of the storm. The metaphorical flowers—thunderclouds—move from rumbling to become “stretching clappers” (Like 4) that “strike” (Line 4) the ears of the indistinct first-person audience. This is an overt bell metaphor (a clapper is the swinging bit within a bell that strikes the tone), which carries over from the flowers’ earlier quality of being “bell-like” (Line 2). This change in metaphor and diction—a shift to forcefulness—represents the movement of the storm: The noise of the storm goes from a lower, gentle rumble to a sharp crack. The line then trails off with an ellipsis, “...” (Line 4), conveying the idea of the storm trailing off into the distance.

In the fifth line, the description turns visual. The word “flowers” (Line 5) is repeated, echoing the second line. The flowers are not only “[g]reat” (Line 2), but also “[f]ull-lipped” (Line 5). This adjective contains several meanings. First, it extends the bell metaphor; a lip, like a clapper, is also part of a bell (the bottom rim). On another level, there are types of two-lipped (or bilabiate) flowers that look like mouths, from the most obviously lippy “girlfriend kiss” flower (Palicourea elata) to the more subtle mint flower. Lastly, Toomer’s work is part of the Harlem Renaissance, and this movement elevates an aesthetics of Blackness that includes large lips. Visually, the focus on lip-like flowers gives the impression of the thunderclouds parting, as if in a kiss, as the storm dissipates.

The sixth line develops the sensory description of the flowers. Here, the flowers are “[b]itten by the sun” (Line 6). While this continues the mouth imagery, it also shows how the sun is changing the metaphorical flowers: The clouds are being eaten away by the light of the sun. With the flowers’ symbolism of thunderclouds, the implied image includes rays of sunlight piercing through clouds, signaling the eponymous storm ending.

The seventh line extends the image of the bite wounds: The clouds are “[b]leeding rain” (Line 7). While earlier, the speaker’s cosmos elevated thunder as more powerful than—or “above” (Line 1)—the spectators, the sun is more powerful than the thunderclouds. Humans remain lowliest within this natural hierarchy. Furthermore, the action and imagery construct nature—including both storms and sun—as a changing force, and the poem crystallizes a moment of transition.

The image of the rain then develops with the addition of a simile on top of the extended metaphor of thundercloud flowers. The rain is “[d]ripping […] like golden honey” (Line 8). Honey closely relates to flowers, as bees are pollinators. Honey also describes the quality of the raindrops—slow, fat drops that almost stick to the clouds that they fall from.

A quality of honey carries into the ninth and final line. The rain falls to the “sweet” (Line 9) earth, the adjective connecting the earth to the image of honey. However, the earth also “[flies] from the thunder” (Line 9)—an ambiguous and even destabilizing image that seems to subvert the hitherto established cosmic hierarchy within the poem. Flying is a much faster motion than the slow drip of honey, and the verb is counterintuitive in at least two respects, each involving a different sense of the verb. In one sense, “[F]lying” (Line 9) refers to airborne movement; in this case, there is a reversal of expectations; literally speaking, it is not the “earth” (Line 9) that flies, while “thunder[clouds]” (Line 9) do. In another sense, “flying” refers to rapid departure. Still, this sense is a reversal; it is not the earth but the thunder, or the storm, that departs in poem. The last line therefore lacks a literal level of interpretation and is an enigma that undercuts cosmic rigidity.