How we cite our quotes: (Line)
Quote #4
—And never to have had to listen to rain
so much like politicians' speeches:
two hours of unrelenting oratory
and then a sudden golden silence
in which the traveller takes a notebook, (55-59)
At the end of the poem, the speaker returns to the water. She talks about the rain in a negative light, and compares it to the "unrelenting" speeches of politicians. What's golden, in this poem, is silence. And, apparently clogs and birdcages. She can handle the man-made world, but some things in nature—like streams and waterfalls—seem like more than she can handle. Perhaps the speaker should try and limit her tourist destinations to cities from now on. No more hiking trips for you, speaker.