Voice of the rain (English, HS First Year)

 VOICE OF THE RAIN

Q. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?

Answer : The two voices in the poem are the voice of the poet and the voice of the rain. 

     The lines that indicate the voice of the poet and the rain are, “And who art thou? Said I to the soft-falling shower,” and the lines that indicate the voice of the rain are, “I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain”.

 

Q. What does the phrase ‘strange to tell’ mean?

Answer : The phrase “strange to tell” means that it is quite strange for the poet to believe that the rain gives an answer to the poet’s query. 

 

Q.There is a parallel drawn between rain  and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.

 

Answer : The following words/phrases indicate the parallel between rain and music: ‘Poem of Earth’, ‘Eternal I rise impalpable out of land and the bottomless sea’ ‘For song duly with love returns.’

Both rain and music originate from a source, rise up, reach fulfillment, wander about whether cared about or not and finally return to the source of origin with love.

 

Q.How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem?

 

Answer : The poet explains the cyclic movement of the rain as the water vapour rises from the land and the bottomless sea to reach the sky. In the sky, it transforms itself into clouds. After wandering, these clouds descend to the earth in the form of rain. Thus it comes back to its origin.

 

Q.Why are the last two lines put within brackets? 

Answer :  The last two lines are put within brackets as these lines differ from the first nine lines. The first two lines are the voice of the poet whereas lines three to nine are spoken by rain. But the last two lines only contain a general observation made by the poet about the course of a song.

 

 

Q. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.

Answer : rise-descend; day-night; reck’d-unreck’d

 

Q.“Behind the apparent simplicity, the poem hides a deep meaning.” What exactly does the poem convey to the reader?

Answer : The poem is not merely a description of the life-cycle of rain. It has a deeper meaning. Rain is the poem of Earth and so is song or music. The poet  compares rain and music and their function, the rain makes earth beautiful and music makes our lives beautiful.

 

Q. How does the rain justify its claim: “I am the Poem of Earth’”?

Answer : The rain narrates the journey of its life—from birth till its return to the origin. The facts are scientific but the phrases that convey them are metaphoric and literary. The whole journey has a beauty and charm associated with a poem.