Raindrop Prelude

This composition by Frederic Chopin is my favorite piece of music–to play and to listen to. The song and alleged story behind it inspired me to write this poem:

“Raindrop Prelude”

Dripping, dripping, dropping,
Constant, never stopping.

My health is in despair,
And so I must repair;

Banished to this cloister,
Full of cold and moisture.

Clouds beginning to form,
A prelude to a storm.

I’m sure my lady’s dead;
It is not in my head!

Run out into the rain,
Before I go insane!

Water will kill or save;
This lake shall be my grave.

Drip, dripping on my head,
Telling me I’m not dead.

She then returned from town,
And so we had a row.

She said ‘twas in my dream;
Aha! So it would seem.

If not for this torment,
I would but give consent.

The rain is dripping still,
Into my soul it drills.

Dripping, dripping, dropping,
Constant, never stopping.

Copyright © 2022 Brandon Ellrich

Frederic Chopin was in poor health and traveled to Mallorca; unfortunately, the weather was terrible, causing his lung disease to worsen. He was then banished to a cold monastery. It is said that he had a dream of drowning in a lake (which might have been prompted by the storm). It is during this period of time that he composed Prelude in D-Flat Major, Op. 28 no. 15, nicknamed “Raindrop” Prelude. There is a repeating A♭ throughout the piece, mimicking the constant dripping of rain.

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