What went wrong when the king rode under the arch?

It was too low and knocked off his crown

How does the chain of blame unfold in the poem?

Each accused person blames another, ending with the king's own changes

Who wrote "The Voice of the Rain" and what is its form?

Walt Whitman; it is a short dialogue-poem in which the rain is personified and speaks.

How many voices are there in the poem and to whom do they belong?

Two — the poet's and the rain's; the poet asks, and the rain replies "as here translated."

What does the phrase "strange to tell" mean?

It expresses the poet's wonder that the rain, a non-human thing, gives him an answer.

How does the rain describe itself?

As "the Poem of Earth," rising eternal and impalpable from land and sea and returning to give back life.

How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out, and how does it relate to science?

The rain rises to heaven, is changed yet the same, and descends to water the earth — mirroring evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

What does the rain do for the earth?

It washes the droughts and dust, gives life to latent seeds, and makes the earth pure and beautiful.

Why would seeds remain "seeds only, latent, unborn" without rain?

Because without water they cannot germinate and grow into plants and life.

What parallel is drawn between rain and music or poetry?

Like rain, a song issues from its birthplace, wanders the world whether noticed or not, and returns with love to its origin.

Why are the last two lines put within brackets?

Because they are the poet's own added reflection comparing the rain's cycle to the journey of a song or poem.

What pairs of opposites occur in the poem?

Day and night, rise and descend, and reck'd or unreck'd, among others.

The Voice of the Rain

Class 11 English · Hornbill – Poems · Chapter 3

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The story in short

Walt Whitman's poem is a brief dialogue between the poet and the rain, which is personified and given a voice. The poet asks the soft-falling shower who it is, and, strange to tell, the rain answers — its reply being given as if translated. The rain calls itself "the Poem of Earth," describing how it rises eternal and impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea, ascends to heaven, where it is vaguely formed and "altogether changed, and yet the same," and then descends to wash the droughts, tiny particles and dust-layers of the globe. It explains that without this rain, all that lies in the earth would remain mere seeds, latent and unborn; by day and night the rain gives back life to its own origin and makes the earth pure and beautiful. This describes the natural water cycle of evaporation, condensation and precipitation, which the poet links with science. The closing lines, set in brackets, draw a parallel between rain and song (or poetry): a song too issues from its birthplace, wanders out into the world whether noticed or not, and duly returns with love to its source. The poem thus celebrates rain as a life-giving, selfless, eternal force and likens the cyclic journey of rain to the journey of art.

The Voice of the Rain

Characters & key ideas

Personificationthe rain is given a human voice and speaks for itself in the poem.

Poem of Earththe rain's self-description, comparing itself to a poem rising from the earth.

Impalpablesomething that cannot be touched; how the rain rises from land and sea.

Laveto wash or bathe; the rain laves the droughts and dust-layers of the globe.

Water cycleevaporation, condensation and precipitation, mirrored in the rain's journey.

Latenthidden; seeds remain latent and unborn without the life-giving rain.

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Who wrote "The Voice of the Rain"?

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The Voice of the Rain

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