Q. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?
Ans. The two voices belong to rain and the poet. These lines are:
“And who are thou? said I to the soft falling shower.”
“And I am the poem of the Earth, said the voice of rain.”
Q. What does the phrase ‘strange to tell’ mean?
Ans. The phrase refers to a strange phenomenon—the rain gives an answer to the poet’s query. It is surprising to report the answer.
Q. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.
Ans. The following words/phrases indicate the parallel between rain and music: ‘Poem of Earth’, ‘eternal I rise impalpable out of land and the bottomless sea’ ‘For song……….duly with love returns.’
Both originate from a source, rise up, reach fulfilment, wander about whether cared about or not and finally return to source of origin with love.
Q. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem
Ans. Rain water rises untouched out of the land and deep sea and gathers in the sky, where it changes form, and then comes down to earth to bathe the dry tiny particles of dust layers and all that lies buried under it. Then it returns to the place of its origin. Science textbooks indicate that water vapours from the rivers and ocean rise up to the sky due to the intense heat. They assume the form of clouds and after condensation drop down as rain. The water flows back through rivers to the seas and oceans.
Q. Why are the last two lines put within brackets?
Ans. The last two lines contain a comment about music and its cycle. These differ from the first nine lines. The first two lines are the voice of the poet whereas lines three to nine are spoken by rain. The cycle of song is put within brackets to mark the difference in speakers but similarity in content.
Q. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.
Ans. The pairs of opposites are:
- earth – heaven
- rise – descend
- day – night
- issuing – return
- reck’d – unreck’d
- changed – same
- land – sea
Q. Notice the sentence pattern in the following: Rewrite these sentences in prose.
- And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower.
- I am the poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.
- Eternal I rise.
- For song……..duly with love returns.
Answer
- I said to the soft-falling shower, ‘‘Who are you?’’
- The voice of the rain said, ‘‘I am the poem of Earth.’’
- I rise eternally.
- For song…….returns duly with love.
OR
- The poet said to the soft falling shower who she was.
- The voice of the rain said that she was the poem of the Earth.
- She added that she rose eternally.
- Because song issuing form its birth place after fulfilment and wandering gets recked or unreck’d but it duly returns with love.