The Voice of the Rain by Walt Whitman

1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?
Ans:- The two voices that are engaged in a conversation in the poem belong to the poet and the rain.
The opening line ‘Who are thou ?’is uttered by the poet and the answer
in response ‘I am the Poem of Earth ‘ is given by the personified voice
of the rain.2. What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?
Ans:-
The poet is surprised at the response given by the soft-falling rain.
It is really strange and difficult for him to believe that rain can
respond to his question.

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 rain and music. Comparison is made between the
life-cycle of the rain and the song. Just like a song that originates
from the heart of a singer  crossing all the barriers of love and
hatred  and  finally comes back to its birth-place  with lots of love,
so does the voice of the rain. The rain that originates from earth
(birth-place), comes  back with love for its creator,after completing
its duty of purifying and nourishing.

4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? HS-2015, 2017
Ans:-
Water takes the form of vapours when it starts its upward journey from
the bottomless seas and oceans. Thereafter it gets transformed into
clouds through the process of condensation. It comes down to the earth
in the form of rain to nourish the drought-affected areas and help in
the process of germination of seeds. The rain purifies and beautifies
the earth. Thus it completes its cyclical movement.

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 made by the poet and his thoughts. He found a similarity
between the rain and the music.

6. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Ans:- 1. Day – Night
2. Reck’d – Unreck’d
3. Rise – Descend

7.”And who are 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”.  HS-2016
(i) Where do these lines occur?

Ans:- (iii) The rain rises from the water of seas, oceans ,rivers and from different parts of the Earth where there is water.
(iv) Find a word in the passage that refers to something that cannot be touched”
Ans:- (iv) Impalpable.

 

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3. The Ailing Planet

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 Poem

5.  A Photograph by Shirley Toulson

6. The Voice of the Rain by Walt Whitman

7. Childhood

8. Father to son

Supplimentary – Short Stories

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