Some Days Must be Dark and Dreary

Longfellow and Me

Rainy Day

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Ballads and Other Poems 1842

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,

But at every gust the dead leaves fall,

And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;

It rains, and the wind is never weary;

My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,

But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,

And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;

Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;

Thy fate is the common fate of all,

Into each life some rain must fall,

Some days must be dark and dreary.

The rain was pattering on our windows, all the lights in the house were on because the glorious natural sunlight was hidden away. Our poet we were studying that term was Longfellow and because of the weather that day, I picked this poem. I had never read this one, but it has since become one of my favorites! As my daughters sat listening intently, I held back tears with each line. Like many people, I have dealt with anxiety and other mental health issues for as long as I remember. Then in 2019, an EF4 tornado wreaked havoc on my community, causing more issues than ever for my mental health.

It started off as a beautiful, peaceful Memorial Day. My family and I had just returned from our trip to a local creek, exploring and discovering all the fun nature finds! Towards the evening the weather started to turn stormy. Once we had settled in at home, winding down with some quality family time, we heard the sirens going off. To be completely honest, we thought nothing of it–along with many others in our community. I have been told my entire life, “We live in a valley, tornadoes don’t hit in valleys.” Well, this one did. After much debate, my husband and I grudgingly decided to rush to my father’s house, which is just a couple blocks away. There is a basement at his house, and to calm our children’s precious nerves we took them there. The moment we all reached the bottom of the steps, much to our surprise, it hit. It only lasted maybe 2 minutes, but the destruction was tremendous. Trees, power lines, garages, cars, homes–everyone in our community was impacted in some way. Some more than others; two of our neighbors lost their homes entirely. But we praised the LORD because we were all safe with little to no physical injuries. The LORD had His hands on all of us. The morning after, the sun was still shining. I remember walking out onto the porch and feeling the warmth of the sun and just hearing all the birds still singing their praises. Our damage was minimal, thankfully. But we still had a lot of debris to clean up and damage to repair. However, the most beautiful thing of all was the coming together of the community afterward; it was incredible. It made me think of the quote from Mr. Rogers: “Look for the helpers.” Almost immediately, there were so many helpers. Right after the tornado hit, neighbors started looking out for each other, checking on each other, and providing each other with any assistance they could. Then there was a massive wave of strangers, from all over, who came to help. They came with anything you could imagine, providing anyone and everyone with food, work, water, clothes, you name it. It was truly a gift straight from the LORD! There were days I would just cry tears of joy, because of the beauty of the community coming together. And I was so grateful. Then almost a year later, everything changed. 

In 2020, something even worse happened. An unheard-of virus arrived changing everything. We went from hugging and receiving gifts from complete strangers to being told we couldn’t even visit our loved ones. Worship with our church family was shut down. We were told to isolate, from everyone. New rules came about that consistently changed. I never knew what to expect when I was told I was allowed to go back out in public. Fear of the unknown encompassed me. Between the isolation and fear, my emotions very quickly turned to grief and loneliness. But God. God blessed my husband and I with the miracle of our third child, our first son. I was full of joy unspeakable. Very slowly, the rules and restrictions began to ease. And life has somewhat returned back to normal.

When I think back to these major life changes and then add on top of it all, the typical stresses that this sinful world tends to bring–heartache because of the loss of loved ones, financial struggles, or the weight we carry as humans in general, it is very overwhelming. Reading this poem–over 100 years after it was written–I felt a connection with Longfellow. I do not know what Longfellow may have been going through at the time of writing this. However, I still felt his hurt and his heaviness. I felt like he understood my burdens as well. Almost like he was reminding me that I am not alone! Because the truth is, behind all of the dark and dreary days Longfellow went through, whatever ones I am going to go through, or the dark and dreary days you may be going through now—the sun will continue to shine, new every morning. The birds will be singing their chorus even after the storms, and the LORD can still perform miracles even when it feels like the world is falling apart. Christ is still on the throne, shining bright! And I am just waiting patiently to see that glorious light when all together we can Praise the LORD!

Ashley Stafford 2023