Ray Bradbury

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Lore & Background

Ray Bradbury wrote "There Will Come Soft Rains" as a science fiction short story chronicling a lone house in a California city obliterated by a nuclear bomb. The title comes from a 1918 poem of the same name by Sara Teasdale, published during World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic. The story first appeared in 1950 in two versions: a one-page short story in Collier's magazine and as a chapter of the fix-up novel The Martian Chronicles. The Collier's version was set as April 28, 1985; the chapter was titled "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains." The 1997 edition of The Martian Chronicles advanced all dates by 31 years, changing the title to "August 2057: There Will Come Soft Rains." Bradbury considered this short story the only one in The Martian Chronicles to be a work of science fiction. The Pulitzer Prize Board recognized Bradbury's foresight in recognizing the potential for complete self-destruction by nuclear war, awarding him a Special Citation in 2007. The author's introduction to a 1984 anthology reveals he wrote the story after seeing a picture of a Hiroshima wall with preserved shadows of people killed by the bomb.

Reader's Guide

In "There Will Come Soft Rains," a nuclear catastrophe has left Allendale, California, entirely desolate, but one miraculously preserved house continues its daily routine: automatic systems prepare breakfast, clean, make beds, wash dishes, and address former residents without knowing they are burnt silhouettes on a wall. The house chimes, "Today is August 4, 2026." A sickly, emaciated dog enters, cannot reach the kitchen where pancakes are being made, runs around in a frenzy, and dies. After an hour, the automated systems remove and incinerate the body. That evening, the house recites Sara Teasdale's poem "There Will Come Soft Rains" to the absent hostess. A windstorm blows a tree branch through a kitchen window, starting a fire. The house's systems desperately try to put out the fire, but it burns to the ground overnight. At dawn, only a single wall remains, with an automated system endlessly reading, "Today is August 5, 2026." The story was adapted multiple times: as a radio episode of Dimension X on June 17, 1950; in comic book Weird Fantasy issue 17 in 1953 with art by Wally Wood; as a radio play for X Minus One on December 5, 1956; as a 1962 LP recording by Burgess Meredith; as a 1962 BBC Third Programme dramatization; as a 1975 Caedmon Records narration by Leonard Nimoy; as a 1977 BBC Radio 4 broadcast using the Radiophonic Workshop; as a 1984 Soviet animated film by Uzbekfilm; as a 1992 comic in Ray Bradbury Chronicles by Lebbeus Woods; and referenced in the 2008 game Fallout 3, where a robot recites the poem.

Did You Know?

• Bradbury regarded 'There Will Come Soft Rains' as 'the one story that represents the essence of Ray Bradbury.'
• The story's title comes from a 1918 poem by Sara Teasdale, published during World War I and the Spanish flu pandemic.
• The story was first published in 1950 in two versions only two days apart: in Collier's magazine and as a chapter of The Martian Chronicles.
• Bradbury wrote the story after seeing a picture of a Hiroshima wall with the preserved shadows of people killed by the bomb.
• The 1997 edition of The Martian Chronicles advanced all dates by 31 years, changing the story's title to 'August 2057: There Will Come Soft Rains.'