The beauty of music as characterized by water imagery gives the elderly men the renewed strength of spirit that they have needed for a long time. Their mundane existence on this furnace-like desert is transformed into an abundant life of joy, for the life-giving rains of music fall upon them every day. Thus, water imagery is used here as an element of transformation and regeneration. Fremley, Terle, and Smith may yearn for rain, but equally important is their need to be surrounded by beauty. They are weary of their sterile existence. For this reason, they find spiritual rejuvenation in Miss Hillgood’s beautiful music. The long drought ends when their tired hearts and spirits are renewed.