Poem 3 – The Voice of the Rain

By Walt Whitman
Introduction -- The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’ is written by Walt Whitman. It is a conversation between
the poet and the rain. The rain explains its eternal journey in its birth-place, i.e. earth to the poet.
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 vapour in the sky from the land and the bottomless sea. It changes its
shape yet it remains the same. The vapour 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 fulfil the aim and comes back with due love for the singer (its originator).
Explanation
Lines 1 - 4
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
Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea,
Word Meaning:
Who art thou – Who are you
Eternal – never-ending
Impalpable – which cannot be described
Explanation: In the above lines, the poet asked the soft-falling shower ‘Who are you?’ to which the rain
replied in a strange to state manner. The rain said that it was the Poem of the Earth and it rose continuously
from the land and bottomless ocean in the form of vapours.

Lines 5 – 7
Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form’d, altogether changed, and yet the same,
I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe,
And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;
Word Meanings:
Whence – where
Vaguely – not clearly
Descend – come down
Lave – wash; bathe
Atomics – small particles
Latent – hidden/buried

Explanation: The rain tells the poet that it rises upwards towards the sky in the form of vapour where it
changes its form (condenses into water droplets). It also says that although its form gets changed, it still
remains the same.
The rain comes down to wash the drought and provide water. It also washes away the dust and small particles
from the earth’s surface. And the seeds inside the earth grow into a plant because of the water provided by the
rain. It gives life to the seeds.
Lines 8 - 11
And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin,
And make pure and beautify it;
(For the song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfillment, wandering
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)
Word Meaning:
Reck’d or unreck’d – it means whether cared for or not cared for. It doesn’t affect the rain nor the poet if
someone listened to the rain or not.
Explanation: The rain says that by day and night it provides life, care, enrichment, and water to the place
from where it originated. The rain keeps enhancing the beauty and purity of the earth by preparing a life-cycle
for itself again.
(The Rain is like a song that originates from its birth-place, just like the heart of the singer, and travels to fulfill
the earth’s needs and wanders. It finally comes back to the place from where it originated. Whether it is ruined
or not, it returns to the original position, with a lot of love to its birth-place).
Literary Devices
1. Personification – the poet used a non-living thing as a living thing in the poet
Ex: I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain
2. Metaphor – an indirect comparison between the qualities of different things
Ex: I am the Poem of Earth – rain is being compared to a poem
3. Hyperbole – exaggerated statements
Ex: Bottomless sea
4. Imagery – visual description of something
Ex: Soft-falling shower
Question Answers
Think it out
I. 1. There are two voices in the poem. 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.
6. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Ans: 1. Day, Night
2. Reck’d, Unreck’d
3. Rise, Descend
Grammar Exercise
Notice the following sentence patterns.
1. And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.
2. I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.
3. Eternal I rise
4. For song… duly with love returns
Rewrite the above sentences in prose.
Ans:
1. I asked the soft-falling shower about its identity.
(OR) I said to the soft-falling shower, “And who are you?”
2. The voice of the rain presented herself as the poem of earth.
(OR) The voice of the rain said, “I am the Poem of Earth.”
3. The rain told the poet that she rises upwards in a never-ending process.
(OR) I rise eternally.
4. The poet says that rain and music are similar to the song originates from the heart of the singer, it travels
across and fulfils its purpose. It comes back with all the love for the singer.
(OR) For song returns duly with love.