Question 1:
There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to ? Which lines indicate this?
Answer:
One voice is of the poet. The other is that of the rain. The following lines indicate this : And who art thou ? said I .........................................................................................I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of rain.
Question 2:
What does the phrase ‘strange to tell’ mean ?
Answer:
It was raining softly. The poet asked the soft-falling shower who he was. He was filled with wonder when he heard the voice of rain answering his question.
Question 3:
There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this ? Explain the similarity between the two.
Answer:
The last two bracketed lines of the poem bring out the similarity between rain and music. The music of a song rises from the soul of a poet. After the poet has sung his song, it settles back into its birthplace. It keeps the poet’s soul pure and happy. Similarly, rain rises from the earth. After coming down from the sky, it goes back into its birthplace. It makes the earth pure and beautiful.
Question 4:
How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem ? Compare it with what you have learnt in science.
Answer:
The poet’s description of rain is scientifically true. The birthplace of the rain is, of course, the earth. Water continually rises from land and the seas. It rises towards the sky and takes a vague shape in the form of clouds. When it falls, it bathes everything. It makes the earth pure and beautiful. It comes back into its birthplace. This cycle continues endlessly.
Question 5:
Why are the last two lines put within brackets ?
Answer:
The last two lines are not the voice of the rain. They are the poet’s comment on music. Here the poet draws a similarity between song and rain. These lines have no relation with the main thought of the poem. So they have been put within brackets.
Question 6:
List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Answer:
land — sea; day — night; same — changed; reck’d — unreck’d; with — without; in — out.
Question 7:
Rewrite these sentences in prose.
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.
Answer:
1. I said to the soft-falling rain, ‘‘And who are you ?’’
2. The voice of the rain said, ‘‘I am the Poem of Earth.’’
3. I rise eternally.
4. For song, issuing from its birthplace, duly returns with love, reck’d or unreck’d, after fulfilment and wandering.