Hornbill - 11, Poem - 4 The Voice of the Rain - Walt Whiteman The Poem, Glossary, Summary, Questions, And Answers The Poem - And who art ...
Hornbill - 11, Poem - 4
The Voice of the Rain - Walt Whiteman
The Poem, Glossary, Summary, Questions, And Answers
The Poem -
And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated;
I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form'd, altogether changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
( For the song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering
Reck'd or unreck'd, duly with love returns.)
Glossary-
1. thou - you
2. eternal - existing forever
3. impalpable - something that can not be touched, untouchable
4. whence - from what place or source, from which, from where
5. vaguely - uncertain
6. lave - wash, bathe
7. atomies - tiny particles
8. latent - hidden
9. recked - pay attention, to note
Summary -
The poem, " The Voice of the Rain" is written by the poet, Walt Whiteman, and it narrates the dialogue between him and the rain when the poet asks the softly falling shower, "Who are you"? and in reply, the rain explains that she is the song and poem of the earth, it is generated from the earth and again comes back to the earth and gives new life to the earth.
Think it out -
1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?
Ans - In this poem, there are two voices, one is of the poet and the second voice is of the rain the conversation between the two is indicated by the very first line of the poem when the poet asks about the soft falling shower, "Who art thou? and the rain replies, "I am the poem of the Earth".
2. What does the phrase, "strange to tell" mean?
Ans - The phrase indicates that the answer given by raindrops to the poet's question was very unusual and extraordinary, meaning it was strange for the softly falling rain to reply to the poet's question.
3. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two?
Ans - The words that indicate the similarity between rain and music are, "For a song, issuing from its birthplace, after fulfillment, wandering reck'd or unreck'd duly with love returns". and the poet describes that rain and music have identical features, both originate from the earth and after fulfilling their tasks, return to the earth itself. Also, the rain creates music and is a song of the earth.
4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learned in science.
Ans - The poet explained that another form of water gets evaporated from the sea and the land reaches up to the heaven that is the sky and comes back to the earth in the form of rain that washes the dust, removes the drought and gives the new life to the seeds and make the earth pure and beautiful meaning the green earth, that is exactly the same basic principle we have learned in the science, the only difference is that the poet has used symbolic representation of the rain.
5. Why are the last two lines put within brackets?
Ans - The last two lines are put within brackets because these lines are not part of the poem and they suggest the general observation made by the poet.
6. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Ans - 1) Day - Night. 2) Rise - Descend. 3) Reck'd - Unreck'd. 4) Unborn - Birth
7. Notice the following sentence patterns.
1. And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.
2. I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.
3. Eternal I rise
4. For song ...duly with love returns
Ans - 1. The poet asks the rain tell me your identity.
2. In the reply, the rain answered, I am the poem of the earth.
3. It explains that the rain moves upward towards the sky.
4. The poet describes that rain and music have identical features, both originate from the earth and after fulfilling their tasks, return to the earth itself. Also, the rain creates music and is a song of the earth.
In another poem, rain is very well described as," It is the sigh of the sea, the laughter of the field, and tears of the sky". It means that when water gets evaporated from the sea, it sighs showing sadness, when the field receives rain, it brings nourishment and new life to it, so the field laughs, and when the rain gets poured from the sky, it appears as good as tears of the sky, so in this way, the rain is defined excellently.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - No matter what people will tell you, words and ideas can change the world. --- ROBIN WILLIAMS
For a quick understanding of the summary of the poem, visit my YouTube channel, "English Prose
and Verse"https://youtu.be/Ilqvd2P8C5g
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