Voice of the Rain ( How to answer and appreciate the poem?)

How does the rain justify its claim ‘I am the Poem of Earth’?
The rain calls itself the poem of earth because, the poem rendered by a poet,has the task of bringing joy, happiness, life to its readers. In the manner, therain drops, and falling over drought stricken earth, brings new life to the land asit also returns to its origin just like the rain drops.

What does the rain do to the things day and night?
The rain falls on the earth, and washes away the drought, it also helps the seedsto germinate and bring forth new life on the earth. Without it, all life on earthwould become lifeless.

What answer did the rain give to the poet about its origin?
The rain answered that it was the poem of the earth. It rose eternally out of theland and bottomless sea into the sky. There its form changed but essenceremained the same.

On what does the ‘rain descend’? What does it do to the things on which itfalls?

The rain descends on droughts, atoms and dust particles on the surface of theearth. It also falls on everything that is on the earth. It gives life to the things onwhich it falls. The things that do not get rain remain like seeds latent and unborn.

And who art thou? Said I to the soft falling shower,This, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as hereTranslated:I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain)

Name the poem and the poet.
The poem is ‘The Voice of the Rain’ and the name of the poet is ‘WaltWhitman’.

Who does ‘I’ refer to in the first and third line of this extract?
‘I’ in the first line is referred to the poet asking a question. ‘I’ in the third line isthe rain drop.

What do you understand by the phrase ‘Strange to tell’?
‘Strange to tell’ means that it is an unusual and extraordinary answer given bythe raindrops to the poet who asked who ‘it’ was.

How has the answer been conveyed to us and what is it?
The poet has personified the rain drop and it is answering the poet’s questionby saying that it is the ‘poem of the Earth’.

Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land.
And the bottomless sea,Upwards to heaven, whence, vaguely form’d altogetherChanged, and yet the same

From where does the rain originate?
The rain originates from the land and the bottomless (deep sea) in the form of water vapour.

How does it originate?
With the heat of the sun, the water evaporates from the sea or land and formswater- vapour which rises up in the atmosphere.

What happens to the rain in the sky?
In the sky, the rain drops form the rain. Their form has changed but the essencehas remained the same.

Name the poem and the poet.
The poem is ‘The Voice of the Rain’ and the poet is Walt Whitman.

I descend to lave the droughts,Atomies, dust- layers of the globe,And all that in them without me were seedsOnly, latent, unborn

With what purpose does the rain descend from the sky?
The rain drops fall from the sky in order to give life to the dry areas and washthe famine-stricken lands.


How does the rain help the seeds?
The rain helps the seeds to germinate and grow into a new life.

Give the meanings of the words from the given lines:

come down -descend

to wash - lave


What is latent and unborn and why?
The seeds are dormant and unborn because of lack of water which is needed for them to germinate and form a new plant.

And forever, by day and night, I giveBack life to my own origin,And make pure and beautify it

In what manner does the rain help its own origin?
The rain helps its own origin by watering the land and quenching the thirst of drought stricken areas.

Why has the poet given the life cycle of the song?
The poet has compared the life cycle of the rain drops to that of the song sayingthat they both return to their origin after fulfilling their tasks.

What is made ‘pure’?
The earth on which rain falls is made ‘pure’.

Which words in the given lines mean:
eternal - forever 
source - origin

For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wanderingReck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns

Why are the last lines put within brackets?
The last lines are put in brackets because they do not form the voice of the rainor the poet. They only certain a general observation by the poet about thecourse of a song.


‘Reck’d or unreck’d’, what does this phrase mean?
Reck’d or unreck’d means whether cared for or not cared for.

Where does the song return?
The song returns to the place of its origin i.e. comes back to the poet

Which word in the lines means ‘originating’?
Issuing