by
Poet's Day

The Rain It Raineth

The Rain It Raineth
by
Poet's Day

This week’s choice is from William Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night and it’s “Feste’s Song” also known as “When that I was and a little tiny boy” which I have chosen because its repeated refrain mirrors the repeated re-rain of the last several weeks. A friend pointed out that Shakespeare’s birthday (and hers) was on Tuesday, so it’s also chosen for her.

A foolish thing was but a toy,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

William Shakespeare (1564—1616)

Poem 317. Feste’s Song: When that I was and a little tiny boy

When that I was and a little tiny boy,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
A foolish thing was but a toy,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came to man’s estate,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
’Gainst knaves and thieves men shut their gate,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came, alas! to wive,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
By swaggering could I never thrive,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

But when I came unto my beds,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
With toss-pots still had drunken heads,
    For the rain it raineth every day.

A great while ago the world begun,
    With hey, ho, the wind and the rain,
But that’s all one, our play is done,
    And we’ll strive to please you every day.

This song appears at the end of Twelfth Night and it’s sung by Feste, Lady Olivia’s Fool. Twelfth Night is a story of mistaken and assumed identities, the main plot concerning the Duke Orsino, Lady Olivia, and the twins Viola and Sebastian and a sub-plot where other characters including Feste conspire to humble Olivia’s steward Malvolio. When everyone’s true identities have been established, the play closes with Feste’s song.

Feste’s status as a Fool makes him more than the general idea of a fool as a silly or stupid person. His official role allows him the privilege to freely comment on and satirise the actions of officials and members of the nobility (within reason—it’s hard to argue immunity if an enraged duke has summarily beheaded you). Thus, he operates within the play as a member of the cast, but also outside the play as a Greek chorus commenting on the behaviour of the other characters.

The song appears to be autobiographical, beginning with Feste as “a little tiny boy” and ending with “when I came unto my beds,” each verse seemingly a time in his life and the wisdom he gained therefrom, but each is also a commentary on the events and ideas explored in the play. Each stanza includes the lines “With hey, ho, the wind and the rain” and “For the rain it raineth every day,” which give the impression of time passing and that the world is fundamentally a dreary place.

The first verse says something that initially seems rather obvious: when we are children, something we do not understand is “but a toy”—only another plaything. Once we are grown, a “foolish thing” may be something other than a mere toy: foolish meaning rash or uncaring of the risks involved in one’s behaviour, and this seems to apply strongly to two of the characters involved in the sub-plot: Olivia’s gluttonous uncle Sir Toby Belch and his fellow drunkard Sir Andrew Aguecheek. Both engage in foolish behaviour and are unaware or uncaring of the results of their exploits.

The second verse again seems obvious: as adults, we all strive to keep our family and possessions safe from “knaves and thieves” that are obviously so, but I think Feste here is admonishing us to beware of covert ne’er-do-wells infiltrating our lives, as Sir Toby and Sir Andrew intrude into Olivia’s and introduce their particular brand of mischief.

The third verse admonishes married men against blustering or swaggering or they will “never thrive”—this may be taken as a reproof to Sir Toby, a notable blusterer who marries at the end of the play.

The fourth verse comments that nothing changes—when Feste comes “unto my beds” (presumably at the end of his life), drunkards and idlers will be much the same then as now.

The final verse emphasises this point: things have continued much the same from the beginning of the world to the present day, and so he ends with a message from the playwright to the audience.

I like it because like a lot of my favourites, it carries two meanings because of the dual nature of Feste within and without the play.

I remembered it because it was Shakespeare’s birthday on 23 April, and Twelfth Night is the Stafford Shakespeare Festival play this summer. The play was adapted for film by Trevor Nunn in 1996, starring Helena Bonham Carter, Mel Smith, Ben Kingsley (as Feste) and Nigel Hawthorne. Ben Kingsley sings Feste’s song over the closing credits, which can be found on YouTube.

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