Summary & Question-answers of The Poem : 3- The Voice of the Rain

The Voice of the Rain Poem Summary

In the poem, the poet asks the soft-falling shower, ‘Who are you?’ to which she replies that she is the poem of earth. It is a strange thing for the rain to reply to the poet. The rain told the poet that she cannot be touched as she rises in the form of water vapor in the sky from the land and the bottomless sea. It changes its shape yet it remains the same. The vapor changes into clouds due to condensation.It falls back on the surface of the earth to provide water to the drought-prone areas and to beautify and purify the earth (its birthplace). It provides life to the seeds inside the earth and helps them grow.The rain doesn’t care if anyone bothers about her deeds or not, she completes her work and comes back home. The poet also compares the rain with a song as they both share a common journey. The song originates from the heart of the singer, travels across to fulfill the aim and comes back with due love for the singer (its originator).

1.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 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’.

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’.

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. Here, the poet compares the life-cycle of the rain and the song. As the song originated from the heart of the singer, wanders to the world, whether liked or not, comes back to its birth-place in the end with lots of love. Similarly, the rain that originates from earth (birth-place), fulfills its duty to beautify and purify the earth and wanders and comes back with love for its creator.

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 in the form of vapour. It then changes its form, transforms itself into clouds. It comes down to the earth in the form of rain to wash drought, provide water, give life to unborn and latent seeds inside the earth. The rain purifies and beautifies the earth.

In science, the water is evaporated in the form of water vapour, condenses 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.

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 made a similarity between the rain and the music.