Chapter 3 (Poem)

The Voice Of The Rain

Summary
The poem 'The Voice of the Rain' by Walt Whitman signifies
the eternal role that the rain plays in nurturing, quenching and
purifying the various elements of Earth.

The rain returns the favour to its place of origin from where it
rises unseen from the depths of the water and from the land. The
rain itself is explaining to the reader about its origin, work and
its cyclic movement. A comparison has also been drawn
between rain and music as both of them make the world more
lively and return to their place of origin after fulfilling their
purpose.
Poetic Devices

Personification The rain has been personified as it has been

given a voice in the poem.
Metaphor "I am the Poem of the Earth". The poet uses a
metaphor to compare how the rain leaves the ground to come
back to the ground, giving back to it much like a person who
leaves its home, only to come back after fulfilling its journey.
Parallelism/Simile In the last two lines, the poet has drawn a
parallel between the rain and the song of a poet.
Hyperbole Bottomless sea' is an example of hyperbole. The
poet describes sea as bottomless which is an exaggerated
statement to bring out the desired effect.
Imagery In the first line of the poem, 'Soft-falling shower' gives
the reader an image of gentle rain or drizzle. During the dialogue
between the poet and the rain, it creates an image of showers or
drops of water falling down from the heavens to Earth and
infusing it with greenery, purity and beauty.
Think it Out
1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to?
Which lines indicate this?

Ans.The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain', presents a dialogue

between the poet and the rain itself in this poem the poet asks
rain who it is. The poet gets an answer as the rain itself gives its
introduction.
Hence, the two voices in the poem are those of rain and the poet.
These are
(i) In the poet's voice And who art thou?
said to the soft-falling shower
(ii) In the voice of the rain And I am the Poem of the Earth, said
the voice of the rain.
2. What does the phrase 'strange to tell' mean?
Ans. The phrase expresses the poet's surprise at the rain's ability
to reply and use words. The belief is that rain cannot speak like
living beings. The poet believes that the readers will also find it
surprising and weird that the rain should speak and answer 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 last two lines of the poem (in brackets) indicate the
parallel drawn between rain and music (here it is called 'song', as
a song always has music associated with it). In these lines, the
poet observes that the life-cycle of rain and a song are alike. The
song issues from the singer and travels to reach others. It
wanders and, whether heard and enjoyed or not, eventually
returns to its creator with all due love. Similarly, rain originates
from Earth, and after fulfilling its role of spreading beauty and
purity, returns to its origin. Both are perpetual in nature.
Moreover, the sound of the soft-falling rain is in itself a kind of
music.

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, water rises from the 'land and the bottomless
sea' to reach the sky. There, it transforms itself into vague
formations of clouds, different in their structure than the water
from which they originated. After wandering, these clouds
descend to Earth in the form of rain to provide relief to the
drought-ridden areas and infuse life into unborn and latent seeds.
The rain gives Earth beauty and purity. In science, we learn the
cyclical process of rain using terms like evaporation,
condensation, precipitation, flowing rivers, ground water, ocean
water etc, while in the poem the same process becomes
interesting and unusual. The rain speaks itself to describe its
course. Thus, both what is given in the poem and what we learn
in science are similar.
5 Why are the last two lines put within brackets?
Ans. The last two lines of the poem have been put within
brackets as they do not form a part of the conversation between
the poet and the rain. The lines in the brackets indicate the
reflections, observations and thoughts of the poet. He makes
observations about the life course of a song and draws
similarities between the life cycle of a song and the rain.
6 List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Ans. The pairs of opposites are rise-descend; day-night; reck'd-
unreck'd

II. Notice the following sentence patterns

(a) And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.

(b) I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.

(c) Eternal I rise.

(d) For song ........duly with love returns. Rewrite the above
sentences in prose.
Ans.
(a) I enquired the soft-falling shower about its identity.
(b) The voice of the rain answered, saying that it was the Poem
of Earth.
(c) The voice of the rain explained its upward movement
towards the sky as eternal.

(d) The poet says that, similar to the rain, a song starts from the
heart of the singer, travels to reach others and, after fulfilling it
purpose (whether cared for or not) returns to the singer with all
due love.

III. Look for some more poems on the rain and see how this one
is different from them.
Ans. Do it yourself.