weatherline

Try a weather day

Five fixed skies, five fixed poems — the same inputs always give the same lines, so a classroom can argue about them honestly. Read one aloud, then ask the room: chosen, or random words? If most say random, this instrument fails its test and should be killed (see the build notes). Tally on your whiteboard; we keep no record of anything.

  1. Darwin storm — Mid-January, monsoon trough: rain on Darwin.

    I bring fresh showers for the thirsting flowers,

    In the wind and the rain,

    Is fresh and sweet from the summer showers.

    • Line 1 — Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Cloud
    • Line 2 — A. B. Paterson, Prelude
    • Line 3 — A. B. Paterson, Over the Range

    15 January 2026 · Darwin · rain · summer. Seed 2026-01-15|darwin|rain|summer: the same sky always gives this same poem.

  2. Melbourne scorcher — Early February, northerly: heat on Melbourne.

    Bush all round—bush with no horizon, for the country is flat.

    Where fierce hot winds have set the pine and myall boughs asweep

    Beneath a sky of deepest blue where never cloud abides,

    • Line 1 — Henry Lawson, The Drover's Wife
    • Line 2 — A. B. Paterson, Conroy's Gap
    • Line 3 — A. B. Paterson, Conroy's Gap

    7 February 2026 · Melbourne · heat · summer. Seed 2026-02-07|melbourne|heat|summer: the same sky always gives this same poem.

  3. Sydney southerly — Mid-July, grey change blowing through: wind over Sydney.

    Ring out wild bells to the wild sky,

    The flying cloud, the frosty light:

    I wield the flail of the lashing hail,

    • Line 1 — Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A. H. H.
    • Line 2 — Alfred Tennyson, In Memoriam A. H. H.
    • Line 3 — Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Cloud

    21 July 2026 · Sydney · wind · winter. Seed 2026-07-21|sydney|wind|winter: the same sky always gives this same poem.

  4. Brisbane spring morning — Mid-September, clear and mild: sun on Brisbane.

    That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

    In the murmur of the breezes and the river on its bars,

    Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

    • Line 1 — William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
    • Line 2 — A. B. Paterson, Clancy of the Overflow
    • Line 3 — William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

    16 September 2026 · Brisbane · sun · spring. Seed 2026-09-16|brisbane|sun|spring: the same sky always gives this same poem.

  5. Perth autumn gale — Mid-April, first front of the season: wind over Perth.

    In the wind and the rain,

    Be thou me, impetuous one!

    Gone a-droving 'down the Cooper' where the Western drovers go;

    • Line 1 — A. B. Paterson, Prelude
    • Line 2 — Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind
    • Line 3 — A. B. Paterson, Clancy of the Overflow

    11 April 2026 · Perth · wind · autumn. Seed 2026-04-11|perth|wind|autumn: the same sky always gives this same poem.

Every line is credited to its poet on Sources. All five poems above are reproducible: re-enter the same date, city and sky and you get the same three lines.