NCERT Solutions for Class 11

English - Hornbill
Chapter 4 – Voice Of The Rain

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

Ans: The poet's voice and the voice of the rain are the two voices in the poem. The
poem opens with a casual tone. The lines are “And who art thou? Said I ……..” and
„I am the poem of Earth‟.

2. What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?

Ans: The phrase "strange to tell" refers to the rain drops' unexpected and remarkable
response to the poet's question about who "it was."

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

Ans: The following words/phrases suggest a connection between rain and music:
‘Poem of Earth,' ‘eternal I rise impalpable out of land and the unfathomable sea,' and
so on. ‘For singing returns duly with affection’.
Both come from a source, rise, find fulfillment, travel around whether or not they
are cared for, and eventually return to the point of origin with love.

4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it
with what you have learned in science.

Ans: Rainwater rises untouched from the land and deep-sea, gathers in the sky,
changes shape, and finally descends to earth to wash the dry, microscopic dust

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particles and everything buried beneath them. Then it returns to its original location.
According to science textbooks, due to the extreme heat, water vapors from rivers
and the ocean rise to the sky. They take the shape of clouds and, after condensing,
fall like rain. Rivers carry the water back to the seas and oceans.

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

Ans: A statement about music and its cycle appears in the last two lines. These are
not the same as the first nine lines. The poet's voice is heard in the first two lines,
while rain speaks in lines three through nine. The song cycle is enclosed in brackets
to indicate that the speakers differ but the substance is similar.

6. List the pair of opposites found in the poem.

Ans: The pairs that are found the opposite in the poem are:

Rise- Descend; Day-Night; Reck’d-Unreck’d

7. Notice the following sentence patterns.

1. And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.

2. I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.

3. Eternal I rise.

4. For song…duly with love returns Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

Ans: 1. I enquired about its identification from the mild rain.

2. The rain's voice presented itself as the Earth's Poem.

3. The rain's speech described its upward march to the sky as endless.
4. The poet claims that, like the natural cycle of rain, a song begins in the poet's
heart, travels to reach others, and then returns to the poet with all due affection after
serving its mission (whether acknowledged or not).

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8. Look for some more poems on the rain and see how this one is different from
them.

Ans: In a similar vein, Langston Hughes' poem "April Rain Song" explores the
impact of rain on life. Rain is described as "silver liquid drops" on the roof, playing
a sleep melody. While Hughes' poem celebrates rain and shows his love for it,
Whitman's poem depicts a conversation between the poet and the rain, in which the
rain articulates its life cycle, beginning and ending with the poet.

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