11th Std The voice of the rain
Read the stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow :
1. 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,
(i) Name the poem and the poet.
(i)The title of the poem is ‘The Voice of the Rain’. The poet’s name is Walt Whitman.
(ii) What does the phrase strange to tell mean?
(ii) ‘Strange to tell’ sounds a note or exclamation of surprise. The poet had not expected to get an answer inhuman voice from the rain.
(iii) Why does the rain call herself the ‘Poem of the Earth’?
(iii) The rain has its birthplace in the river bodies and season the earth. It is the lovely and musical child of the earth.
2. Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely formed, altogether changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomics, dust-layers of the globe.
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
(i) There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to?
(i) The two voices in the poem are those of the poet and the rain.
(ii) How does the rain narrate the story of her birth and functions?
(ii) The rain rises from the earth in the form of light vapour which takes on the shape of dark, dense clouds. The clouds after wandering all over in the sky dissolve again into water and return to their birthplace. Thus rain gives new life and greenery to the dry earth.
(iii) What impression do you form about the speaker?
(iii) The speaker ‘the rain’ gives a scientific account of her birth and gifts to the drying earth. She tells her life-story with pride and self-praise.
(3)And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
(For the song, issuing from its birthplace, after fulfilment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns).
(i) How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem?
(i) The poem gives us a clear picture of how the clouds are formed and how they dissolve into the water again. They have a short life-span.
(ii) What is the significance of the word ‘song’ here?
(ii) The word ‘song’ refers to the musical sound which can be heard when the rain falls on different surfaces on the earth.
(iii) How does the rain benefit the earth?
(iii) The rain is a great benefactor of the earth. It cleanses, purifies and waters the dry earth. It gives a new life and beauty to the scorched fields and all the living beings.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Why does the poet call this poem a ‘translation’?
Ans. The voice of the rain is naturally mysterious and is different from our own. So, the poet who alone understands it translates the reply of the rain into English.
2. What is the life-cycle of clouds?
Ans. Clouds are nothing but water in the form of gas. The scorching sun turns the water on land and sea into vapour. The water vapours rise upwards like dark clouds and float in the sky. Finally, the clouds again return to their birthplace in the form of rain.
3. What question does the poet ask for the rain? What reply does he get?
Ans. The poet asks the rain who she is. The rain in its mysterious voice introduces herself as Poem of the Earth.
4. What is the cloud’s birthplace? How does it go upward to heaven?
Ans. The cloud’s birthplace is the water bodies like rivers, ponds and the sea. Water vapours being lighter than air, rise to the sky and take on strange shapes in the form of clouds. Yet essentially, it remains the same old water.
5. What are the functions of the cloud or rain?
Ans. The rain bathes everything on the earth, washes away dust layers, cures dry conditions. and gives a new life to seeds. In this way, it cleans, purifies and beautifies all things on the earth.
6. What is the central idea of Walt Whitman’s poem?
Ans. The poet wants to convey the birth, growth, change and finally the blessings of rain. It is water that turns into clouds, wanders in the sky, takes on strange shapes, but finally in the form of water returns to the earth. It purifies, bathes and adds beauty to all things on the earth. Rain does its duty unmindful of any recognition. Human beings should learn a lesson from this and make efforts to preserve the Earth.
Read the stanza carefully and answer the questions that follow :
1. 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,
(i) Name the poem and the poet.
(i)The title of the poem is ‘The Voice of the Rain’. The poet’s name is Walt Whitman.
(ii) What does the phrase strange to tell mean?
(ii) ‘Strange to tell’ sounds a note or exclamation of surprise. The poet had not expected to get an answer inhuman voice from the rain.
(iii) Why does the rain call herself the ‘Poem of the Earth’?
(iii) The rain has its birthplace in the river bodies and season the earth. It is the lovely and musical child of the earth.
2. Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely formed, altogether changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomics, dust-layers of the globe.
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
(i) There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to?
(i) The two voices in the poem are those of the poet and the rain.
(ii) How does the rain narrate the story of her birth and functions?
(ii) The rain rises from the earth in the form of light vapour which takes on the shape of dark, dense clouds. The clouds after wandering all over in the sky dissolve again into water and return to their birthplace. Thus rain gives new life and greenery to the dry earth.
(iii) What impression do you form about the speaker?
(iii) The speaker ‘the rain’ gives a scientific account of her birth and gifts to the drying earth. She tells her life-story with pride and self-praise.
(3)And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
(For the song, issuing from its birthplace, after fulfilment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns).
(i) How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem?
(i) The poem gives us a clear picture of how the clouds are formed and how they dissolve into the water again. They have a short life-span.
(ii) What is the significance of the word ‘song’ here?
(ii) The word ‘song’ refers to the musical sound which can be heard when the rain falls on different surfaces on the earth.
(iii) How does the rain benefit the earth?
(iii) The rain is a great benefactor of the earth. It cleanses, purifies and waters the dry earth. It gives a new life and beauty to the scorched fields and all the living beings.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Why does the poet call this poem a ‘translation’?
Ans. The voice of the rain is naturally mysterious and is different from our own. So, the poet who alone understands it translates the reply of the rain into English.
2. What is the life-cycle of clouds?
Ans. Clouds are nothing but water in the form of gas. The scorching sun turns the water on land and sea into vapour. The water vapours rise upwards like dark clouds and float in the sky. Finally, the clouds again return to their birthplace in the form of rain.
3. What question does the poet ask for the rain? What reply does he get?
Ans. The poet asks the rain who she is. The rain in its mysterious voice introduces herself as Poem of the Earth.
4. What is the cloud’s birthplace? How does it go upward to heaven?
Ans. The cloud’s birthplace is the water bodies like rivers, ponds and the sea. Water vapours being lighter than air, rise to the sky and take on strange shapes in the form of clouds. Yet essentially, it remains the same old water.
5. What are the functions of the cloud or rain?
Ans. The rain bathes everything on the earth, washes away dust layers, cures dry conditions. and gives a new life to seeds. In this way, it cleans, purifies and beautifies all things on the earth.
6. What is the central idea of Walt Whitman’s poem?
Ans. The poet wants to convey the birth, growth, change and finally the blessings of rain. It is water that turns into clouds, wanders in the sky, takes on strange shapes, but finally in the form of water returns to the earth. It purifies, bathes and adds beauty to all things on the earth. Rain does its duty unmindful of any recognition. Human beings should learn a lesson from this and make efforts to preserve the Earth.
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