The Voice of The Rain11Eng
The Voice of The Rain11Eng
The Voice of The Rain11Eng
Word Meaning
Who art thou – Who are you
Eternal – never-ending
Impalpable – which cannot be described
Explanation of the Poem: In the above lines, the poet asked the soft-falling shower ‘Who
are you?’ to which the rain replied in a strange to state manner. The rain said that it was
the Poem of the Earth and it rose continuously from the land and bottomless ocean in the
form of vapours.
Poem
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;
Word Meaning
Whence – where
Vaguely – not clearly
Descend – come down
Lave – wash; bathe
Atomics – small particles
Latent – hidden/buried
Explanation of the Poem: The rain tells the poet that it rises upwards towards the sky in
the form of vapour where it changes its form (condenses into water droplets). It also says
that although its form gets changed, it still remains the same.
The rain comes down to wash the drought and provide water. It also washes away the
dust and small particles from the earth’s surface. And the seeds inside the earth grow into
a plant because of the water provided by the rain. It gives life to the seeds.
Poem
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.)
Word Meaning
Reck’d or unreck’d – it means whether cared for or not cared for. It doesn’t affect the rain
nor the poet if someone listened to the rain or not.
Explanation of the Poem: The rain says that by day and night it provides life, care,
enrichment, and water to the place from where it originated. The rain keeps enhancing
the beauty and purity of the earth by preparing a life-cycle for itself again.
(The Rain is like a song that originates from its birth-place, just like the heart of the singer,
and travels to fulfill the earth’s needs and wanders. It finally comes back to the place from
where it originated. Whether it is ruined or not, it returns to the original position, with a lot
of love to its birth-place).
1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?
Ans: The two voices in the poem are the ‘voice of the rain’ and the ‘voice of the poet’. The
lines which indicate the voice of the rain are ‘I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of
the rain’ and the lines which indicate the voice of the poet are ‘And who art thou? Said I
to the soft-falling shower’.
Ans: The phrase ‘strange to tell’ means that it was strange for the soft-falling rain to reply
to the poet’s question. When the poet asked the rain ‘who art thou?’ the rain replied ‘I am
the Poem of Earth’.
3. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain
the similarity between the two.
Ans: The lines ‘For the song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns’ draws a parallel between rain and music. Here,
the poet compares the life-cycle of the rain and the song. As the song originated from the
heart of the singer, wanders to the world, whether liked or not, comes back to its birth-
place in the end with lots of love. Similarly, the rain that originates from earth (birth-place),
fulfills its duty to beautify and purify the earth and wanders and comes back with love for
its creator.
4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you
have learnt in science.
Ans: In the poem, the water rises from the land and the bottomless sea in the form of
vapor. It then changes its form, transforms itself into clouds. It comes down to the earth
in the form of rain to wash drought, provide water, give life to unborn and latent seeds
inside the earth. The rain purifies and beautifies the earth.
In science, the water is evaporated in the form of water vapor, condenses in the sky to
form clouds, and then rains down in the form of water into rivers, streams, ground, ocean,
etc. In the poem, the rain describes its eternal journey itself.