Sara Teasdale's "There Will Come Soft Rains"

There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pool singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white;
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself when she awoke at dawn
Would scarcely know that we were gone.

"There Will Come Soft Rains," by Sara Teasdale, is my favorite poem because of its tone and subject matter. I believe that this poem was written during the World War I time period because of the diction and subject matter. The WWI period is my favorite historical subject. I believe that this poem was written during the WWI period because of the lines that say: "...not one will know of the war,... at last when it is done." WWI is often referred to as "The War" or "The Great War." The line implies that the war has been going on for a long time, which furthers my belief that it was from the WWI period. The tone reflects the feelings of many people during the WWI time period; melancholy, but still with hope that the war would end someday, and everything in nature and the world would be well again. I enjoyed the diction and rhythm of the poem. The strong adjectives paint a vivid picture of birds and nature in the mind of the reader. I liked the way that the poet expressed the idea that even if all of the people in the world disappeared, the world would still go on as if there never was people. This is an interesting idea to think about, and I enjoy indulging in such philosophical thinking.