Nursery Rhyme: It’s Raining, It’s Pouring

“It's Raining, It's Pouring” is a nursery rhyme in English. It's a classic or traditional rhyme that was first published in 1939.

Why not sing this rhyme outside on a rainy day when it's pouring outside? We encourage putting on raincoats and singing the song outside - in the rain! This is a hit with the kids! It's also quite refreshing. And returning home after having played in the rain is a great experience.

This is a nursery rhyme and children's song in the English language. The Roud Folk Song Index number for this song is 16814. Let's sing together and have fun!

Origin of the Poem

The first two lines of this rhyme were first published in 1912 in the United States in “The Little Mother Goose”. “What are Little Boys Made of? and “A Tisket, A Tasket” are two songs that feature the melody.

The song's first known audio recording was made in New York in 1939 by anthropologist and folklorist Herbert Halpert, and it is now housed at the Library of Congress. In 1939, Charles Ives added musical notes, and Freda Selicoff copyrighted a version of it in 1944.

It's Raining, It's Pouring - Lyrics

Let us look at the lyrics of the rhyme here.

It’s raining, it’s pouring.

The old man is snoring.

He bumped his head and went to bed

And he couldn’t get up in the morning.

It’s raining, it’s pouring.

The old woman is snoring.

She bumped his head and went to bed

And she couldn’t get up in the morning.

It’s raining, it’s pouring.

All the children are snoring.

They went to bed and bumped their heads.

And they couldn’t get up in the morning.

Summary of the Rhyme

"It's pouring, it's raining," begins the nursery rhyme, implying that it is already raining outside. There is an old man in the opening lines. In his chair, an old man is snoring. When he wakes up, he bumps his head and falls asleep again. The old man couldn't get out of bed the next morning!

The same lyrics open the next paragraph, implying that it is still raining outside. We can find an elderly woman snoring in this section of lines. She, too, hits her head and goes to bed. She couldn't get out of bed the next morning.

The next set of lines begins in the same way as the previous ones. Outside, it's still raining. We can discover that children are snoring this time. They smack their heads together and fall asleep. They couldn't get out of bed the next day.

Children Playing during the Rain