The bars of hell

Posted by RRC on July 20, 2007

In Reply to: The bars of hell posted by ESC on July 20, 2007

: : : I was just talking to my father on the phone and the weather came up in the conversation; there's a surprise! He said that the rain had been coming down like, "the bars of hell". Do you have any idea what the bars of hell are?

: : I don't, but have you thought of asking your father?

: That's a good idea. But lots of times with these old phrases, the speaker doesn't know the origin. It's just "something we say."

On the other hand, it could save us a lot of time if we found out that his father was really saying "Bart the snail". (^_^)

The "bars of hell" are part of what keeps people trapped in hell. A simple Google search will show you many references to the gates and bars of hell. For example, John Milton in "Paradise Lost" says
"... seest thou what rage
Transports our Adversary, whom no bounds
Prescribed, no bars of hell, nor all the chains
heaped on him there, nor yet the main abyss
Wide interrupt can hold: ..."
Why does this have anything to do with rain? I don't know - ask your father.