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RAIN ON THE ROOF

----- Coates Kinney
Introduction:
Rain on the Roof written by Coates Kinney is a thoughtful poem in which the poet expresses his thoughts
and past memories when the rain pours over his house. The memories are both sweet and sad. They
ease him as well as make him sad.

About the Poet:

Coates Kinney (November 24, 1826 - January 25, 1904) was a lawyer, politician, journalist, and poet from
the United States. He wrote poetry, and his verses were collected in Keeuka and Other Poems
(Cincinnati, 1855) and. Of his verses, "The Rain on the Roof", which was set to music, was the most
popular.

Significance of the Title of the Poem:

• The poem 'Rain on the Roof' talks about the poet's varied reactions to the sound of raindrops
falling on the roof of his house.
• He says that the sound of rain drops helps him fall asleep and gives him sweet dreams.
• He has memories of his loving mother who would put them to sleep.

Summary Of The Poem:

1. This is a lyrical poem by Coates Kinney.
2. In this poem, the poet expresses his love for nature.
3. The sky is overcast with the dark clouds.
4. He hears the sound of the clouds.
5. Suddenly the quietness of the environment disappears.
6. It starts raining lightly.
7. The poet lies in his comfortable bed pressing the head against a soft pillow and listens to the soft
falling rain on the roof.
8. The pitter-patter of the rain creates beautiful music.
9. The soft falling of the rain revives many childhood memories.
10. He recollects how his mother used to look at her children as she put them to sleep.
11. He visualizes in his mind the affectionate look of his mother.
12. The rain makes a bridge between his present and his past.
13. Thus the sound of rain appeared to be a bliss to the poet.

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The Poem:
When the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres,
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed,
And to listen to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!

Every tinkle on the shingles

Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof,
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof.

Now in memory comes my mother,

As she used, in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! I see her leaning o’er me,
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.

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Stanza 1:
WHEN the humid shadows hover
Over all the starry spheres,
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed,
And to listen to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!

• The dark bellied clouds remain in the air covering the sky full of stars.
• Dark clouds (expressing the melancholic state of mind of the speaker) gentle weeps as rain.
• Darkness usually has a negative connotation, and the poet makes no exception to this rule.
• But the only thing which makes him to have bliss is to curl up with a pillow in the cottage bed
and lie listening to the patter of soft rain on the roof.
• The sound of rain acts as blessing to make him to move away the pall from his mind.

Stanza 2:
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof,
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof.
• In the second stanza the poet describes how every raindrop on the shingles of the roof has an
echo of life in the heart.
• The poet recounts pleasant and fanciful recollections associated with his life through each drop
on the shingles.
• Besides having an echo in the heart, the rain creates many new different dreams and imaginary
thoughts in his mind.
• All these recollections weave their thread into loom of picture entwined with one another in his
mind as he listens to the patter of the rain on the roof.

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Stanza 3:
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used, in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! I see her leaning o’er me,
As I list to this refrain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.

• Among the thousand recollection weaving, the memories of his mother echoed in the mind of
poet.
• The poet recalls the fond look of his mother years ago which he used to enjoy with his siblings
when they were very young.
• Since they were children, they had sweet dreams and they were the darlings of their mother.
• Darling dreamers is referred to the siblings of the poet.
• Before leaving the children the mother of the poet ensures till the dawn that they would be
having pleasant dreams and look down at them at night.
• The poet recalls the fondness of his mother’s look especially over him in particular.
• These memories are evoked as he listens to the repetitive rhythm played upon the shingles on
the roof by the patter raindrops as they are falling.

Message Of This Poem:

Rain has therapeutic and healing powers and forms lasting memories of the sights, sound and fragrances
in the human mind. It also forms lasting memories of our experiences associated with it, especially those
involving our loved ones. Rain refreshes and rejuvenates us and forces us to recollect and relieve our
past memories.

Theme of the Poem:

The poem tells us about the poet’s feeling on the rainy day. the poet recounts his feeling when he listens
to the patter of the rain. He starts recalling all his past memories when he was lying on his cottage cosy
bed. the poet explains how the rain heals our pain especially when we listen to the patter of rain on the
roof. He recollects the pleasant memories of the past especially associated with his mother. The rain is
thus an instrument of beautiful memories of the past.

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Word Meanings:
1. Humid: something which is full of moisture.
2. ‘shadows’ (here): moisture-laden clouds which cast a shadow on the earth.
3. hover: Move around something
4. melancholy: sad
5. bliss: Happiness
6. patter: the sound of raindrops falling on the roof.
7. tinkle: short, light ringing sound
8. shingles: rectangular wooden tiles used on roofs
9. echo: repeated sound
10. woof: weft, i.es the thread woven across the loom
11. patter: the sound of raindrops falling on the roof
12. ‘busy being’ (here): beings and here, the poet is referring to himself
13. ere: old poetic word for ‘before’
14. dawn: day break
15. list: old poetic word for’ listen’
16. refrain: a repeated part of a song or a poem; here, the sound of the rain

Literary Devices :
Stanza 1
1. Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words.
‘Humid Hover’ - ‘h’ sound is repeating.
‘starry spheres’ - ‘s’ should is repeating.
‘press pillow’- ‘p’ sound is repeating.
‘lie listening’ - ‘l’ sound is repeating.
2. Onomatopoeia: The use of sound words to create a dramatic effect and auditory imagery.
‘Patter’ is the use of sound words. It is the sound made by the raindrops falling on the rooftop.
3. Personification: Treating a non – living thing as a living being.
darkness has been personified when he says that it is sad.
4. Transferred Epithet: The use of an adjective with a noun when it refers to another noun.
In ‘melancholy darkness’, the darkness is not melancholy, but it refers to the sad people.

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Stanza 2
1. Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words.
‘busy being’ - ‘b’ sound is repeating
‘their thread’ - ‘th’ sound is repeating
‘rain roof’ - ‘r’ sound is repeating
2. Onomatopoeia: The use of sound words to create a dramatic effect and auditory imagery.
‘tinkle’, ‘patter’ – sounds made by the raindrops
3. Personification: Treating a non – living thing as a living being.
recollection is personified when he says that they weave dreams.
4. Transferred Epithet: The use of an adjective with a noun when it refers to another noun.
‘dreamy fancies’ – it does not mean that the fancies are dreamy but refers to the people who
have dreams.

Stanza 3
1. Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words.
‘memory my mother’ - ‘m’ sound is repeating
‘Darling dreamers’ - ‘d’ sound is repeating
2. Onomatopoeia: The use of sound words to create a dramatic effect and auditory imagery.

Rhyme Scheme:
The whole poem follows abcbdefe rhyme scheme.

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Extensive Reading:
The next three stanzas of the poem are as follows:

Then my little seraph sister,

With the wings and waving hair,
And her star-eyed cherub brother—
A serene angelic pair!—
Glide around my wakeful pillow,
With their praise or mild reproof,
As I listen to the murmur
Of the soft rain on the roof

And another comes, to thrill me

With her eyes’ delicious blue;
And I mind not, musing on her,
That her heart was all untrue:
I remember but to love her
With a passion kin to pain,
And my heart’s quick pulses vibrate
To the patter of the rain.

Art hath naught of tone or cadence

That can work with such a spell
In the soul’s mysterious fountains,
Whence the tears of rapture well,
As that melody of nature,
That subdued, subduing strain
Which is played upon the shingles
By the patter of the rain.

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Address: D/4, Old Ashok Nagar, Opp. Ganesh Mandir Lane, Vazira Naka, Borivali (West), Mumbai - 400091