Rain Rain Go Away
| ""Rain, Rain, Go Away"" | |
|---|---|
 Lia Wallace Denslow's illustrations for a variant of Rain Rain Go Away, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose | |
| Nursery rhyme | |
| Published | 17th century or earlier |
"Rain, Rain, Go Away" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 19096.
Lyrics
There are few versions and variations of this rhyming couplet. The most common modern version is:
- Rain, rain, go away,
- Come again another day.[1]
Origins
Similar rhymes can be found in many societies, including ancient Greece and ancient Rome.[2] The modern English language rhyme can be dated to at least to the 17th century when James Howell in his collection of proverbs noted:
- Rain rain go to Spain: fair weather come again.[1]
A version very similar to the modern version was noted by John Aubrey in 1687 as used by "little children" to "charm away the Rain...":
- Rain Rain go away,
- Come again on Saturday.[1]
A wide variety of alternatives have been recorded including: "Midsummer day", "washing day", "Christmas Day" and "Martha's wedding day".[1]
In the mid-19th century James Orchard Halliwell collected and published the version:
- Rain, rain, go away
- Come again another day
- Little Arthur wants to play.[3]
In a book from the late 19th century, the lyrics are as follows:
- Rain, Rain,
- Go away;
- Come again,
- April day;
- Little Johnny wants to play.[4]
Notes
- ^ a b c d I. Opie and P. Opie, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951, 2nd edn., 1997), p. 360.
- ^ Dolby, Karen (2012). Oranges and Lemons: Rhymes from Past Times. Michael O'Mara Books. p. 143. ISBN 9781843179757.
- ^ J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps. The Nursery Rhymes of England: Obtained Principally from Oral Tradition (London: J.R.Smith, 1843), p. 214.
- ^ A. Beljame, "First English Reader" (Paris, France: Librairie Hachhete, 1882), p.109.