English, asked by Suhanasonu4272, 1 year ago

i need a line by line explanation of the poem voice of the rain

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Answered by rahi87

Summary

Analysis:

Similar to most of Whitman's poems, "The Voice of the Rain" does not follow any specific form, rhyme scheme, or meter; it is written in free verse. It is made up of one stanza with nine distinct lines, but some of the lines are so long that they bleed into the next. The first two lines contain the speaker's question to the rain ("And who art thou?"). The rain's response makes up the remaining six lines. Whitman places the final line in parenthesis in order to separate the speaker's words from the rain's.

At the end of the poem, the speaker compares poetry to the rain - equating art with Earth's most essential element. Here, Whitman reveals the high level of importance he put on his poems (and poetry in general). Whitman treated his poems like his children. He put all of his emotional energy into his work and then released his poems into the world like water evaporating into the air. Each reader then has a different relationship with Whitman's words, which changes the effect of the poem while maintaining its spirit. Then, the readers rain praise, criticism, love, and hate back down onto Whitman. After that, the poem occupies a different role in the poet's life.

Whitman's comparison between poems and rain is demonstrative of his transcendental beliefs. Rather than associate his poetry with something modern and manmade, he instead chooses to associate it with the eternal cycles of the natural world. He did not write poetry for the purpose of making a splash. He wanted his work to be affecting, vital, and eternal - just like nature. He describes his audience as "drouths, atomies, dust-layers of the globe" as if reading Whitman's poetry is all they need to flourish and grow.

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About Walt Whitman: Poems

Walt Whitman: Poems Summary

Character List

Glossary

Themes

Quotes and Analysis

Summary And Analysis

"One's-Self I Sing"

"As I Ponder'd in Silence"

"For Him I Sing"

"I Hear America Singing"

"To You" (Book I)

"Thou Reader"

"I Sing the Body Electric"

"To a Stranger"

"Pioneers! O Pioneers!"

"O Me! O Life!"

"O Captain! My Captain!"

"Beat! Beat! Drums!"

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"

"Ashes of Soldiers"

"Thoughts"

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"

"The Voice of the Rain"

"A Noiseless Patient Spider"

"A child said, What is the grass?"

Whitman's influence on American writers and leaders