THE VOICE OF THE RAIN

- WALT WHITMAN

About the Poet

Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A
humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both
views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the
father of free verse, though he did not invent it.

Theme
The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain' by Walt Whitman signifies the eternal role that the rain plays in
nurturing, quenching and purifying the various elements of Earth. The rain returns the favour to its place of
origin from where it rises unseen from the depths of the water and from the land.

Analysis of the Poem

Introduction:
The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’ written by Walt Whitman is about the poet’s imaginary conversation with
rain droplets. In the end, he says that his poetry is like the rain droplets as both of them play a crucial role
in the world- of making it livelier. The poem is a free verse without any rhyme scheme. It lacks a specific
form, metre and consists of single stanza having 9 lines.

Summary:
The poet is in an imaginary conversation with the rain which he calls ‘the soft-falling shower’. He asks the
rain, “And who art thou?” to which, he says, strangely, the rain replies. The poet translates for the readers
to understand what the rain answered.

The rain tells the poet in her ‘voice’ that she is the Poem of Earth. In a way, the sound of raindrops falling
on the ground is ‘voice of rain’ according to the poet which is musical. The rain further tells the poet that it
keeps rising forever in the form of vapours which are ‘impalpable’ ‘out of the land and the bottomless sea’
to the ‘heaven’.

There, the vapours form clouds. Their form is changed yet their basic structure remains the same. Now the
rain comes down ‘to lave’ the droughts, atomies and dust-layers of the whole world.

The rain says that if it would not have done so, the trees would have been just the seeds unborn and
undeveloped. It keeps giving life to its own origin i.e. it cleanses and nourishes the earth to make it pure
and beautiful. In the final lines, the poet draws a parallel between rain and music as both has the ability to
soothe. Both of them rejuvenate and heal life. Hence the poet, in the poem, tries to show the significance
of his poetry. As rain is to the earth, poetry is to mankind.

Conclusion
Through the voice of the rain summary, the writer wants to portray the life of rain and how it is like a song.

Central Idea
The central idea of the poem The Voice of the Rain is that both rain and poetry hold a significant position
on the earth. The rain originates from the bottom of the seas In the form of water vapours. The rise to the
sky and from there they fall down on the earth and help the life to exist and flourish. Similarly, the poetry
originates from the heart of the poet and goes to different people who appreciate and criticize it. But in
the end, love comes for the poet from all the directions.
Poetic Devices
1) Personification (human attributes lent to inanimate objects)- voice lent to rain
2) Metaphor (implied comparison)- “I am the Poem of Earth”
3) Hyperbole (exaggeration for effect)- ‘bottomless sea’
4) Oxymoron (contradictory terms joined together for an effect) - day and night, reck’d and unreck’d
5) Paradox (a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps
true)- “I give back life to my own origin”
6) Parallelism (connection and similarity)- between rain and song of a poet (last two lines)
7) Imagery (mental pictures)- ‘soft falling shower’, ‘I rise impalpable out of the land…’, ‘descend to lave the
droughts…’ etc.

Extra Questions

Q. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music in the poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’. Explain.

Ans: Rain and music are similar as both can soothe. Just like a poem brings joy to its poet, similarly, rain
brings joy to its origin, the earth. Moreover, the sound of the soft-falling rain is in itself a kind of music.
Both of them rejuvenate and heal life. When rain showers, it brings new life and happiness and music also
spreads love and happiness. As rain is to the earth, poetry is to mankind

Q. Justify the title of the poem The Voice of Rain.

The Voice of The Rain is an imaginative conversation between the poet and rain in which the poet is trying
to point out that the rain does have a voice and even compares it with a song. The poet sees the rain as an
entity with a voice that is indispensable for the survival of the earth. Therefore, the title of the poem is
justly chosen by the poet.

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

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

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

Reference to Context:

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 rain)”

1. Name the poem and the poet.

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

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

3. What do you understand by the phrase ‘Strange to tell’?

Ans. ‘Strange to tell’ means that it is an unusual and extraordinary answer given by the raindrops to the
poet who asked who ‘it’ was.
4. How has the answer been conveyed to us and what is it?
Ans. The poet has personified the raindrop and it is answering the poet’s question by saying that it is the
‘poem of the Earth’.

2. “Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land.

And the bottomless sea, Upwards to heaven, whence, vaguely form’d Altogether Changed, and yet the
same”

1. From where does the rain originate?

Ans. The rain originates from the land and the bottomless (deep sea) in the form of water vapour.

2. How does it originate?

Ans. With the heat of the sun, the water evaporates from the sea or land and forms water-vapour which
rises up in the atmosphere.

3. What happens to the rain in the sky?

Ans. In the sky, the raindrops form the rain. Their form has changed but the essence has remained the
same.

4. Name the poem and the poet.

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

3. “I descend to lave the droughts, Atomies, dust- layers of the globe, And all that in them without me
were Seeds Only, latent, unborn”

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

2. How does the rain help the seeds?

Ans. The rain helps the seeds to germinate and grow into a new life.

3. Give the meanings of the words from the given lines:

Ans. come down -descend

to wash – lave

Q. What is latent and unborn and why?

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

4. “And forever, by day and night, I give Back life to my own origin, And make pure and beautify it”

1. In what manner does the rain help its own origin?

Ans. The rain helps its own origin by watering the land and quenching the thirst of drought-stricken areas.

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

3. What is made ‘pure’?

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

4. Which words in the given lines mean:

Ans. eternal – forever
source – origin

5. “For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love
returns”

1. Why are the last lines put within brackets?

Ans. The last lines are put in brackets because they do not form the voice of the rain or the poet. They only
certain a general observation by the poet about the course of a song.

2. ‘Reck’d or unreck’d’, what does this phrase mean?

Ans. Reck’d or unreck’d means whether cared for or not cared for.

3. Where does the song return?

Ans. The song returns to the place of its origin i.e. comes back to the poet

4. Which word in the lines means ‘originating’?

Ans. Issuing