My Lord, increase me in knowledge.

Bahria College Anchorage Islamabad

The Rain
By
William Henry Davies
About the poet:
Name: William Henry Davies
Born: July 7, 1871 in Newport, UK
Died: September 26, 1940 in Nailsworth, UK
Genre: lyrical poetry, autobiography
Subject: Nature and hardships of the poor.
Notable works:

 Leisure
 Money
 The Rain
 A Plain Life
 Joy and Pleasure
 The Kingfisher
 April’s Charms

Theme of the poem:

W.H. Davies’ ‘’The Rain’’ is a symbolic and moralistic poem in which the poet beautifully relates
the rich and poor leaves with the rich and the poor class of a society. The rich people get every
comfort, opportunity and a golden chance first and whatever remains trickle down to the poor.
But the poet is still optimistic and hopes for the good days that soon there will be an equality
and justice in the society just like the sunshine which spreads all over the world equally without
any discrimination. It will surely be a lovely scene when all people of this world will be happy and
enjoying equal rights.
 The Rain
I hear leaves drinking rain; Paraphrasing:

I hear raindrops falling on leaves of trees.it

I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
Drop after drop;
Feels as if leaves are drinking raindrops. The
rich leaves which are on the top, are giving
These drops one by one, to the poor leaves

‘Tis a sweet noise to hear beneath. These green leaves drinking raindrops

These green leaves drinking near. Make a sweet noise.

And when the sun comes out,

Paraphrasing:
After this rain shall stop,
When the rain stops, the sun will come out. The
A wondrous light will fill marvellous sunshine will brighten the dark

Each dark, round drop; round drop. The poet says that I hope that when
the Sun shines, there will be a lovely sight.
I hope the Sun shines bright;

It will be a lovely sight.

‘’The Rain’’ by W.H Davies is a symbolic poem. The beauty of its verses lies in the usage of the
figurative language. Following figures of speech are used in the poem:

 Personification
 Metaphor
 Oxymoron
 Anaphora
VOCABULARY
A. Give an antonym of each word and make sentences with both words. [copy work]
B. Read the following sentences and….. [book work]
C. Which connotation is more positive? [book work]
D. Which connotation is more negative? [book work]
E. Give synonyms of the following words. [book work]

READING COMPREHENSION:
A. Answer the following questions [copy work]
B. Select the choice that explains the meaning of the… [book work]
C. Identify the use of metaphor... [copy work]
D. Identify the use of personification… [book work]

GRAMMAR:
A. Pick out the verb in each sentence and…. [copy work]
B. Make two sentences with each of the given words... [copy work]
C. Fill in the blanks with correct prepositions... [book work]
D. Where did the fly go? Put in these prepositions appropriately... [book work]
E. Put the correct form of verb to complete… [book work]

WRIING SKILLS:
A. Explain the main idea of the poem. [copy work]
B. Paraphrase the stanzas of the poem [copy work]
C. Write summary of the poem, ‘’Try again’’. [no need to write]
D. Write a paragraph on ‘’The Rainy Day’’ [copy work] [do by yourself]

TEXTUAL QUESTIONS:
1. What do the rich and poor leaves stand for?
The rich and the poor leaves have been personified in the poem. The rich leaves symbolize the rich
people while the poor leaves stand for the poor people of the society.

2. Do you also like the sun coming out after rain? Why?
When sun appears after rain, it makes the sight more enchanting, lovely and lively. Furthermore, it
spreads its light everywhere equally. That is why, I like the sun coming out after the rain.
VOCABULARY
A. Give an antonym of each word and make sentences with both words.
WORD ANTOYNM SENTENCES
Rich Poor  The rich must help the poor.
 He belongs to a poor family
Top Bottom  He got the top position in the recent examination.
 The CEO started at the bottom and worked his way up.
Near Far  I like the hotel near the city.
 My school is not far from my home.
Light Dark  Please wake up at the first light in the morning.
 He bought the kids special rings that glow in the dark.
Bright Dim  Everyone likes the bright smiling faces.
 Please dim the headlights of the vehicle.
Noise Silence  I couldn’t hear him over all the noise.
 The robbers entered the house with silence.
Lovely Ugly  The students of tenth class have lovely manners.
 Corruption is undoubtedly the ugliest stain of all.

READING COMPREHENSION:
A. Answer the following questions.
1. What does the poet hear?
The poet hears the sound of the raindrops falling on leaves of trees. The green leaves drinking raindrops
make a sweet noise.

2. What according to the poet is a sweet noise?

The sound of the rain water falling down gently drop by drop on the leaves makes a sweet noise which
appeals the poet very much.

3. What will happen after the rain stops?

After the rain, sun comes out and makes the sight more beautiful. It spreads its light equally everywhere.

4. How does the sun come out after the rain?

After the rain, sun emerges out of the clouds and illuminates every dark, round drop as well as spreads its
light on the whole world without any discrimination.

5. How does the light fill the drops?

When the sun appears on the horizon after the rain, it fills every drop with light and brightens it up.

6. What makes the scene lovely?

The appearance of the sun after the rain and the wondrous light it spreads everywhere, makes the scene
lovely and more enchanting.
C. Identify the use of metaphor in the poem and answer these questions.
1. What do the rich leaves symbolize?
The rich leaves symbolize the rich people of the society who are on top and hence enjoys
all the blessings and opportunities.

2. What do the poor leaves stand for?

The poor people stand for the poor people of the society who get the less provisions in
their life.

3. What does the sun symbolize?

The sun symbolizes equality and justice as it spreads its light equally all over the world
without any discrimination. It also symbolises happiness after difficulty and a light after
dark.

GRAMMAR
Transitive and Intransitive Verbs
 The verb which needs an OBJECT to complete the sense of a sentence is a transitive verb. For example, He
went to school.
 The verb which do not require an OBJECT and can complete its meaning without it, is intransitive verb.
For example, They slept. They slept in the house. She walks.

A. Pick out the verb in each sentence and state whether it is transitive or intransitive.
1. The sun shines bright.

2. I hear a noise.

3. Ali drives the car carefully.

4. You got angry with your sister.

5. Sarmad ate a lot of sweets.

6. Everyone tried very hard to win the race.

7. She knows the secret.

B. Make two sentences with each of the given words. Use these first as a transitive verb and
then as an intransitive verbs
WORD TRANSITIVE/INTRANSITIVE SENTENCES
Write Intransitive Ali is writing in a good manner.
Transitive Ali is writing a letter.
Play Intransitive He is playing expertly.
Transitive He is playing football.
Sing Intransitive She sings beautifully.
Transitive She sings a song.
Read Intransitive He is reading carefully.
Transitive He is reading a book.
Plan Intransitive Their plan succeeded.
Transitive He is planning to go to the States.
Move Intransitive Don’t move.
Transitive He is moving his vehicle.