THE VOICE OF THE RAIN

Walt Whitman
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) 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.

"The Voice of the Rain" is a short free verse poem by the

American poet Walt Whitman. Originally published in a
periodical called Outing in 1885, it was later reprinted in Leaves
of Grass, Whitman's most celebrated collection of verse.
 THEMES
 The importance of cyclic nature of rain as well as the
poetry of the poet.

 Homage to the restorative power of the natural world and

claims that poetry nourishes humanity just as rain
nourishes the earth. By personifying rain, Walt Whitman
makes it a living and breathing entity with the power to
give life and nourish it too.

 Similarities between rain and music observing that the life-

cycle of rain and song are alike.

 Universal appeal of Music

 The message of giving back to our source or origin. The

rain receives life from the earth and its water bodies and by
falling back to the earth and its water bodies, it gives life
back to the source.
 JUSTIFICATION OF THE TITLE
Literal : The poet recounts a ‘conversation’ he had with the falling raindrops. He asks the
rain, ‘And who art thou?’ and strangely, the rain answers.

Figurative : Through personification, the poem celebrates rain and the accompanying water
cycle that supports life and benefits the Earth.

At a deeper level, the rain answers that it is the "Poem of the Earth" and describes itself in a
way that compares it to poetry. It describes how the source of the rain like poetry, can rise
from different sources, be transformed and reborn, providing life to the receiver. 
 SUMMARY
The Voice of the Rain by Walt Whitman, on
the one hand, focuses on how rain rises from
the land and the sea in the form of vapour,
becomes a cloud and then falls back to earth
to revive drought-hit land and allows seeds
to grow into trees. Hence it returns to the
earth. On the other hand, the poet highlights
a comparison between the rain and a poem
by addressing the rain as 'the poem of the
Earth'. A poem is born out of the poet's
heart, leaves his/her soul and changes its
form. Nevertheless, it is always the same at
its core and returns to him/her as love from
his readers.
FROM SCIENCE TO IMAGINATION
The poet has very
beautifully converted the
ubiquitous water cycle into
a dreamy conversation
with rain.

Eternal I rise
impalpable out of the
land and the
bottomless sea.
Upward to heaven ,
whence, vaguely
form’d, altogether
changed, and yet the
same,
 KEYWORDS AND MEANINGS
• Thou – You
• Eternal – Everlasting • Translated – To change
• Impalpable – Something that cannot be touched something written or
spoken from one
• Whence – From where
language to another
• Vaguely – In an indefinite manner
• Lave – Wash Droughts and dry spells, moisten Here, the poet is translating
the answer given by the rain
• Atomies – Very tiny particles
into a communicable &
• Latent – Hidden, dormant comprehensible language
• Reck’d – Cared about for his readers
• Unreck’d – Uncared for
• Duly – Properly. Rightly
And who art thou? Said
The poet gazed at the gentle spell of rain and asked who it
I to the soft- falling was. Much to the surprise of the poet, it answered him. The
shower, rain has been personified as it is shown to be in
Which, strange to tell, conversation with the poet.
gave me an answer, as
What she answered to the poet is strange to tell in words.
here translated:
The poet is surprised to receive an answer from the rain. It
I am the Poem of is strange to tell as it is something that he had not really
Earth, said the voice of given a thought to.
the rain,
Eternal I rise The poet translates the answer for his readers. The voice of
the rain answers, I am the poem of Earth. ( Metaphor).
impalpable out of the
Here, the poet draws a parallel between rain and music. The
land and the bottomless journey of rain is never-ending. It is intangible as it rises
sea. out of the land and endless sea upwards, untouched and
unseen.
Upward to heaven , The rain rises out of the land and the bottomless sea (in the
whence , vaguely form of vapour) upwards to the sky. There, it transforms
itself into vague formation of clouds, different in their
form’d, altogether structure than the water from which they originate. Though
changed, and yet the the form is completely changed, yet, in essence, it is the
same. In science, we learn the cyclical process of rain in
same, terms like evaporation, condensation, precipitation.
I descend to lave the While in the poem the same process becomes interesting
droughts, atomies, and unusual.

dust-layers of the After wandering, these clouds descend to the earth in the
globe, form of rain to provide relief to the drought-ridden areas and
infuse life into the unborn and latent seeds. Without rain, the
And all that in them seeds lying in the Earth remain hidden and unborn. They
without me were seeds sprout to life only when it rains.The rain renders the earth
only, latent, unborn; with beauty and purity.
 The rain says that the earth is its creator and it gives
back life to its creator. Day and night, endlessly it
supplies water to the parched land and helps the
And forever, by day
flowers and plants bloom, thus beautifying the
and night,
I give back life to my atmosphere. The rain makes the earth, its creator,
own origin, pure by washing down all dust and impurities.
And make pure and The rain is the song of the Earth. She rises from it
beautify it; like a song upwards and after completing her
operations come back to the Earth duly with love
without caring whether someone hears or notices her
or not.
 In these lines, the poet draws similarities between rain and
music observing that the life-cycle of rain and song are alike.
The song issues from the heart of the poet and travels to reach
( For song, issuing others. It wanders and, whether heard and enjoyed or not,
from its birth-place, eventually returns to its creator with all due love. Similarly, rain
after fulfilment, originates from the earth, and after fulfilling its role of spreading
wandering beauty and purity, returns to its origin. Both are perpetual in
nature. Moreover, the sound of the soft-falling rain is in itself a
Reck’d or unreck.d, kind of music.
duly with love The last two lines are put within parenthesis because they
returns.) contain a comment about music and its cycle. These differ
from the first nine lines as they depict the dialogue between
the poet and the rain. It is the observation of the poet about
the similarity between a song and rain.
 • Personification - Used in the
whole poem. The rain is
personified
• Metaphor -‘I am the poem of the
Earth’
• Hyperbole - ‘Bottomless sea’
POETIC • Imagery - ‘Soft falling Shower’
DEVICES gives the reader an image of gentle
rain
& techniques • Parallelism between rain and
music
• Use of opposites in pairs
 rise – descend
 day – night
 reck’d – unreck’d
POINTS TO REMEMBER
 Poem – an imaginary dialogue
between the poet and the rain.
Poet asks who it is.
Surprisingly, rain answers and
tells how it originates.
It rises unseen from land and sea.
It forms clouds in the sky.
It returns to Earth in the form of
rains.
It gives back life to the Earth and
makes it beautiful.
This cycle goes on forever.