# To a Thunder-Cloud explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by George MacDonald.

## What happens

The poem addresses a thunder-cloud as a melancholy fragment of night that appears prematurely against the sun, disrupting the day's light. The speaker reflects on the lesson and secret wisdom hidden within the cloud's folds, noting that a wind from the west will eventually tear it apart and scatter it as sparkling dew upon the grass.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature as Divine Revelation

The thunder-cloud is portrayed as a source of secret wisdom and a lesson, revealing deeper truths through natural phenomena.

### Suffering and Purification

The cloud's destruction by the wind and its transformation into sparkling dew suggests a process of purification through suffering.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker who addresses the thunder-cloud and reflects on its lesson.

### The Wind

The wind from the west that will rend the cloud asunder.

## Key lines

> Oh, melancholy fragment of the night Drawing thy lazy web against the sun

Oh sad piece of the night, slowly spreading your web-like form across the sunlight.

_The speaker addresses the thunder-cloud as a remnant of night that obscures the sun._

> There is a wind that cometh from the west Will rend thy tottering piles of gloom asunder, And fling thee ruinous along the grass, To sparkle on us as our footsteps pass!

A wind from the west will tear apart your shaky towers of darkness, scatter you broken on the grass, and make you glisten as we walk over you.

_The wind will destroy the cloud and transform it into sparkling dew on the ground._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters/to-a-thunder-cloud
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_8_se/chapters