19 pages • 38 minutes read
Jean ToomerStorm Ending
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1923A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Thunder
Both the first and last words of the poem are “thunder” (Lines 1, 9), and this bookending element underscores the authority of this central symbol. The speaker describes thunder as both powerful and beautiful. It blooms “gorgeously” (Line 1) and is “[g]reat” (Line 2). While thunder is more powerful than humans and the earth, it can be defeated, cyclically, by the sun. The thunder’s transience is suggested in the diction of “hollow” in Line 2. While thunderclouds are “[g]reat” (Line 2), they are also hollow and penetrable by the sun. This central metaphor establishes the poem’s cosmic hierarchy and underscores humanity’s humble station within that hierarchy.
Thunder traditionally symbolizes sky gods. According to Michael Ferber’s Dictionary of Literary Symbols, the gods of the “Hebrews, Greeks, and Romans manifested themselves in lightning and thunder.” Zeus and Jupiter, as well as the Abrahamic God, use thunder. While “Storm Ending” is not distinctly religious, it thematically examines the semi-divine power of nature over humans.
Flowers
The poem’s flowers are both a motif and metaphor, and while they do not directly appear until the second line, the first line heralds their presence with the thunder’s metaphorical blossoming. The flowers are initially described as “bell-like” (Line 2), which recalls images of bluebells, lilies of the valley, and foxgloves. However, it also ties the flowers to bells, which is part of the poem’s elaborate extended metaphor (called a conceit). Later, the speaker describes these flowers as “[f]ull-lipped” (Line 5), which recalls flowers such as the “girlfriend kiss” flower (Palicourea elata). Orchid flowers are also known for having a lip, or labellum, which helps to pollinate the flower. “Lip” also alludes again to bells; a bell’s lip is its bottom rim.
Bell-like flowers traditionally symbolize “virginity” (Ferber, Michael. Dictionary of Literary Symbols. 1999. Penguin). A common two-lipped, or bilabiate, flower is the mint flower, which, according to the “language of flowers” that was popularized in the Victorian era, symbolizes virtue. While neither of these two senses is directly apparent in Toomer’s poem, the poet was likely aware of this traditional symbolic language.
Honey and Bees
The motif of flower lips and pollination comes up again in the image of “honey” (Line 8). Lips of flowers aid in pollination, and, after pollinating flowers, bees make honey. The image of honey connects the rain to the earth. The adjective “sweet” (Line 9), which modifies “earth” (Line 9) in the final line, ties in with this motif.
This motif is particularly important because the poem that precedes “Storm Ending” in Cane is “Beehive,” a poem that also connects bees with the earth. The poem’s sequential presentation illustrates their connection. Historically, bees and honey symbolize “eloquence or poetic gifts,” as well as “the poet” themself, while beehives examine ideas about “governance,” according to Ferber’s Dictionary of Literary Symbols.
