CLASS 11 ENGLISH

THE VOICE OF THE RAIN

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The Voice of the Rain
About the Poet

Walt Whitman was an American poet. He was a

patriot. He was born on 31st May, 1819. He was a
famous teacher among his students. He was a
journalist also. He left the world on 26th March, 1892
for heaven.

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The Voice of the Rain
About the Poem

In the poem, rain and music are compared to

each other. Both of them rise from their source,
help the world. They come back to their
sources to make them beautiful and pure.

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 The Voice of the Rain
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 and the
bottomless sea,

In the above lines, the poet asked the soft-falling shower

Who art thou – Who are you
‘Who are you?’ to which the rain replied in a strange to Eternal – never-ending
Impalpable – which cannot be
state manner. The rain said that it was the Poem of the described

Earth and it rose continuously from the land and

bottomless ocean in the form of vapours.
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The Voice of the Rain

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;

Whence – where
Vaguely – not clearly
Descend – come down
Lave – wash; bathe
Atomics – small particles
Latent – hidden/buried
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The Voice of the Rain

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.
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The Voice of the Rain

And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my

own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)

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.

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The Voice of the Rain
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).

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The Voice of the Rain

Literary Devices

Personification – the poet used a non-living thing as a living thing in the poet

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

Metaphor – an indirect comparison between the qualities of different things

I am the Poem of Earth - rain is being compared to a poem

Hyperbole – exaggerated statements , Bottomless sea

Imagery – visual description of something , Soft-falling shower

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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

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 (प्रकाशित करना) 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’.

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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

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

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’.
The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

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 (के बीच एक समानाांतर बनाना) rain and music. Here, the poet
compares (तुलना) the life-cycle of the rain and the song (बारिश का जीवन
चक्र औि गीत).

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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

As the song originated (उत्पन्न होना) from the heart of the singer,
wanders (भटकना) to the world, whether liked or not, comes back to its
birth-place in the end with lots of love (जन्म स्थान अंत में ढे ि सािे
प्याि के साथ). Similarly, the rain that originates from earth (birth-place),
fulfils (पिू ा) its duty to beautify and purify the earth (पथ्
ृ वी को सश
ु ोभभत
औि शद्
ु ध किने के भलए) and wanders and comes back with love for its
creator.

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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

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 (अथाह समद्र
ु )
in the form of vapour (भाप का रूप). It then changes its form, transforms itself into
clouds (खुद को बादलों में बदल लेता है ). It comes down to the earth in the form of rain
to wash drought (सख
ू ा), provide (प्रदान किना) water, give life to unborn and latent
seeds inside the earth (पथ्
ृ वी के अंदि अजन्मे औि गप्ु त बीज). The rain purifies and
beautifies the earth.
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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

In science, the water is evaporated (भाप बनना) in the form of water vapour,
condenses (सांघननत) 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 (अनन्त यात्रा ही).

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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

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

Ans: The last two lines are put within the bracket because they are the
observations (अवलोकन) made by the poet and his thoughts. He made a
similarity (समानता) between the rain and the music.

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The Voice of the Rain
NCERT Question Answer

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

Ans: 1. Day, Night

2. Reck’d, Unreck’d

3. Rise, Descend

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The Voice of the Rain
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 1.
Why does the poet get surprised when he gets an answer from the rain?
Answer:
The poet gets surprised when he gets an answer from the rain, as it is
inanimate and cannot speak (ननजीव औि बोल नहीं सकते). In this poem, to
the poet’s and reader’s amazement (महान आश्चयय या आश्चयय की भावना),
the rain gives a reply which has been translated by the poet for the readers.

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The Voice of the Rain
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 2.
What answer does the rain give back to the poet?
Answer:
The rain answers to the poet’s question by telling him that it is the Poem of
Earth and is involved (शाभमल) in a continuing process (सतत प्रक्रक्रया) of going
up and coming down.

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The Voice of the Rain
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 3.
How does the rain justify its claim ‘I am the Poem of Earth’?
Answer:
The rain calls itself the Poem of the Earth because the poem rendered by the
poet has the task of bringing joy, happiness, life to its readers (अपने पाठकों के
भलए आनंद, खश
ु ी, जीवन लाना). Similarly, when the rain falls down over Earth,
a rhythm or music is created (लय या संगीत बनाया जाता है ). That’s why the
rain calls itself the Poem of Earth.

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The Voice of the Rain
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 4.
Describe the never-ending cycle of rain.
Answer:
Water rises unperceived (अकल्पनीय) in the form of vapour from land and
water bodies on the Earth. It goes up, takes the form of a cloud, changes its
shape and falls down on Earth in the form .of water drops to bathe the small
dust particles, land and sea. The water returns through rivers to oceans and
seas after it rains on Earth (पथ्
ृ वी पि वर्ाय होने के बाद पानी नददयों के माध्यम
से महासागिों औि समद्र
ु ों में लौटता है ).
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The Voice of the Rain
Previous Year Question Answer

Question 5.
Why is rain essential (आवश्यक) for Earth?
Answer:
If it doesn’t rain then Earth will remain parched (सख
ू ा), droughts will follow, and
the dust-layers will not be washed away. There will be nothing to quench the
thirst (प्यास) of the plants and trees and their seeds will die.

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