The voice of the rain

Poem
And who art thou? Said I to the soft falling shower, which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here
translated: I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain,
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land & the bottomless sea,
Up ward to heaven, whence, vaguely from’d,
Altogether changed, & 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;
And forever, by day & night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure & beauty it;
( for song, issuing from its birth-place, after
fulfilment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)
 DIFFICULT WORDS
• Impalpable:- Something that cannot be touched
• Lave:- Wash, Bathe
• Atomies:- Tiny Particles
• Latent:- Hidden
Important points
 Personification is the literary device used in the poem.
 There are two speakers in the poem- the poet & the rainfall.
 The poem begins in a conversational tone.
 The first two lines form the question put by the poet to the rainfall & the rest constitute the
answer of the rainfall.
 There is a parallel drawn between rain & music. Both originate from a source, rise up,
reach fulfilment, wander about & finally return to their origin.
 The present poem is a nature poem that deals with the cyclic movement of rainfall.
 Summary of the Poem
The Voice of the rain celebrates rain and the
accompanying water cycle that supports life and benefits
the Earth. The poet recounts a ‘conversation’ he had
with the falling raindrops. He asks the rain, ‘And who art
thou?’ and strangely, the rain answers, calling itself ‘ the
poem of Earth.’
The rain says that it is born in the form of intangible
vapours that rise eternally from the earth’s land and deep
water bodies. It then reaches upwards towards heaven in
the form of clouds, impalpable, vaguely formed and
altogether changed.
Yet, at its core, it remains the same as it
was at birth. It, then, returns to its origin,
the earth, as raindrops to wash away the
dust and rejuvenate the drought-ridden
and dry land.
The poet compares the rain to a poem/song.
A song is born in the heart of a human and
after giving pleasure and joy to one and all
come back to the creator in the form of
appreciation.
Similarly, rain originates from the earth and the
bottomless sea; soars up to heaven taking the
form of clouds and comes down to give joy to
its birthplace(earth) and makes it clean, pure
and beautiful.
 Biography of the poet

 The voice of the rain poem is written by Walt Whitmn. was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the
transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in
the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in its time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection Leaves
of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Whitman's own life came under scrutiny for his presumed homosexuality.
 Born in Huntington on Long Island, as a child and through much of his career he resided in Brooklyn. At age 11, he left formal schooling to
go to work. Later, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass,
was first published in 1855 with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person
with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. During the American Civil War, he went to
Washington, D.C. and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. On the death
of Abraham Lincoln, whom Whitman greatly admired, he wrote his well known poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in
the Dooryard Bloom'd", and gave a series of lectures. After a stroke towards the end of his life, Whitman moved to Camden, New Jersey,
where his health further declined. When he died at age 72, his funeral was a public event.
How Rain comes to the earth?
Thank you