NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English Chapter 4 – The Voice of the Rain — Walt Whitman

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Think it Out

Q. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this ?

Ans. The two voices in the poem belongs to the poet and the rain. The lines which indicate this are,

“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.”

Q. What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean ?

Ans. The phrase “strange to tell” means that the poet wants to tell something unbelievable, unexpected and unusual. He is going to tell what actually is, not a fact or something that can’t be trusted easily by anyone.

Q. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.

Ans. The words which tell the similarity between the rain and the music are,

“And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,

And make pure and beautify it;

(For song, issuing from its birth-place after fulfilment, wandering Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)”

Both rain as well as music start from their respective origins, fulfil their purpose and return to their respective sources. Their main aim is to purify and beautify the nature.

Q. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science.

Ans. The poet describes the cyclic movement of rain which is everlasting. The rain takes its origin from the land and the bottomless sea and then rises to the sky, which is called heaven in the poem. There it takes an indefinite shape and clouds are formed. It falls back to the sea and the land. During this process, it washes away the dry land and removes all the dirt and dust, thus making it beautiful and green. It even helps the seeds to germinate and grow into plants.

Scientifically also, the water gets evaporated from the Earth and then clouds are formed in the sky. When clouds become heavy they fall back on the land, river and seas, and water gives back life to its own origin.

Q. Why are the last two lines put within brackets ?

Ans. The last two lines are put within the brackets because these are not the lines spoken by the poet. They are the poet’s own concluding comments on the song as how the rain also returns back to its birthplace after accomplishing its purpose.

Q. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.

Ans. Earth : heaven

rise : descend

day : night

issuing : return

land : sea

changed : same

recked : unrecked

II. Notice the following sentence patterns and rewrite them in prose.

Q. And who art thou? said I to the soft falling shower.

Ans. I said to the soft falling rain, “And who are you?”

Q. I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.