The Voice of the Rain

-Walt Whitman
Summary:The poet Walt Whitman writes of a conversation he once had with the rain
as it dropped gently from the heavens. Who are you? the poet asked.
Stragely, the raindrops replied and the poet translates its answer for the
readers.
I am the poem of the earth, said the rain. The rain adds that it is born in
the form of invisible and intangible vapours that rise eternally from the
earths land and deep water bodies. It then reaches heaven (the sky) and
changes its appearance complete to form clouds of abstract, changeable
shapes. Yet, at its core, it remains the same as it was at birth.
It then returns to earth as little droplets which wash away the dust and
rejuvenate the drought-ridden, dry land. New plants find life which would
have otherwise remained hidden and unborn inside the land as mere seeds.
Thus, this perpetual cyclic lifestyle ensures that the rain returns to its origin,
the earth, giving it life, and making it pure and beautiful.
The poet realizes that the rains life is similar to that of any song. A songs
birth place is the poets heart. Once complete, it is
passed on (wanders) from one person to another. It may change (reckd) or
remain the same (unreckd) as it travels, but one day, it returns to the poet
with all due love of the listeners.
IMPORTANT LINES:
Which strange to tell
Often, poets took on the role of the mediator between nature and humanity.
The poet admits it was strange that he could understand the rain and now
takes up the task of translating the answer for the readers.
I am the poem of the earth
There is an immediate metaphoric comparison between the rain and poetry.
However, this significance only comes to light in the poets reflection at the
end of the poem.
Eternal I rise
The sense of permanence is extremely strong throughout the poem. The
cyclic lifestyle is endless and shall continue as long as the connect between
the rain and earth persists. The words eternal, impalpable, bottomless
show that though we record the overt reality, the true scope of nature
remains tantalizingly beyond our rational comprehension.
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Altogether changed, and yet the same

The rain changes its appearance from intangible vapours to abstract clouds,
yet, at its core, it remains the rain. This is the universal law that energy is
never destroyed, only transferred from one form to another. Hence,
ironically, in change, lies eternity.
I give back life to my own origin
The rain falls to bring life to the unborn seeds hidden in the earth, its own
birth-place.
(For song duly with love returns)
These lines have been placed in parenthesis because they are not a part of
the conversation between the poet and the rain, rather its aftermath where
the poet reflects on the conversation. He realises that the rains life is
similar to that of any
song. A songs birth place is the poets heart. Once complete, it is passed
on (wanders) from one person to another. It may change (reckd) or remain
the same (unreckd) as it travels, but one day, it returns to the poet with all
due love of the listeners.
Comment on the style of the poem
Walt Whitman broke several conventions of poetry when writing this poem.
There is no rhyme scheme nor do the lines stay of the same length.
Although each phrase is just enough to be read in one breath, we find
ourselves breathless as the line runs
on and eventually becomes a part of the whole. This kind of poetry was
known as prosaic poetry, that is, poetry that is written like prose.
Read the extract carefully and answer the questions that follow:
STANZA - 1
And who art thou? Said I to the soft falling shower,
This, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here
Translated:
I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the raina
a. Name the poem and the poet.?
The poem is The Voice of the Rain and the name of the poet is
WaltWhitman.
b. 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.
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c. 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.
d. How has the answer been conveyed to us and what is it?
The poet has personified the rain drop and it is answering the poets
questionby saying that it is the poem of the Earth.

STANZA - 2
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land
And the bottomless sea,
Upwards to heaven, whence, vaguely formd altogether
Changed, and yet the samea
a. From where does the rain originate?
The rain originates from the land and the bottomless (deep sea) in the form
of water vapour.
b. 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.
c. 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.
d. Name the poem and the poet.
The poem is The Voice of the Rain and the poet is Walt Whitman.
STANZA - 3
I descend to lave the droughts,
Atomies, dust- layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds
Only, latent, unborna
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a. 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.
b. How does the rain help the seeds?
The rain helps the seeds to germinate and grow into a new life.
c. Give the meanings of the words from the given lines:
come down - descend
to wash - lave
d. 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.
STANZA - 4
And forever, by day and night,
I giveback life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
a. 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.
b. 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.
c. What is made pure?
The earth on which rain falls is made pure.
d. Which words in the given lines mean:
eternal - forever
source origin
STANZA - 5
(For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment,
wanderingReckd or unreckd, duly with love returns)
a. Why are the last lines put within brackets?
The last lines are put in brackets because they do not form the voice of the
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rainor the poet. They only certain a general observation by the poet about
thecourse of a song.
b. Reckd or unreckd, what does this phrase mean?
Reckd or unreckd means whether cared for or not cared for.
c. Where does the song return?
The song returns to the place of its origin i.e. comes back to the poet.
d. Which word in the lines means originating?
Issuing

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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 andunborn.

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