Identify the sound imagery in the Stanza from which the above lines are taken.
Answers
Answer:
Stanza 1:
When the humid shadows hover
Overall the starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
What a bliss to press the pillow
Of a cottage-chamber bed
And lie listening to the patter
Of the soft rain overhead!
Poetic Devices
i. Alliteration - It is the repetition of a letter at the start of closely placed words. The repetition of the letter:
1. ‘H’ in humid shadows hover.
2. ‘S’ in starry spheres.
3. ‘P’ in press the pillow.
4. ‘L’ in lie listening.
ii. Onomatopoeia - The poet has used the word ‘patter’ which is the sound of the raindrops falling on something.
iii. Personification - The poet has personified darkness by using the words like ‘melancholy’ and ‘weeping’ for her.
iv. Transferred Epithet - The poet has used the word ‘melancholy’ to refer to the people who are sad.
v. Imagery - The poet has enhanced the beauty of the poem and gave the readers visual descriptions by using the phrase such as ‘starry spheres’, ‘melancholy darkness’ and ‘rainy tears’.
vi. Assonance - The prominent use of the vowel ‘o’ in the line - Of the soft rain overhead.
vii. Enjambment - The sentences are being continued to the next line without a break. It can be observed throughout the stanza.
Meanings
Hover - move around something
Melancholy - sad
Patter - sound of raindrops falling on the roof
Explanation
Here, the poet says that when the dark, moisture laden clouds hover above the sky and covers the starry sky, the sad and melancholic darkness of the night is wiped off by the raindrops which are like tears falling from the sky. A comparison is made between raindrops and tears. When the dark sky is sad, it cries and the raindrops are tears shed by it. The poet tells us that it is a blessing to lay in his room and put a pillow below his head and hear the sounds of raindrops falling on the roof.
Stanza 2:
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And a thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof,
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof.
Poetic Devices
i. Alliteration - It is the repetition of a letter at the start of closely placed words. The repetition of the letter:
1. ‘B’ in busy being.
2. ‘Th’ in their air-threads.
3. ‘R’ in rain upon the roof.
ii. Onomatopoeia - The poet has used the words ‘patter’ and ‘tinkles’, both the words are used for the sound of the raindrops falling on something.
iii. Personification - The poet has personified recollections by using the phrase ‘weave their air-threads into woof’ for it.
iv. Hyperbole - The poet has used the word ‘thousand’ for dreamy fancies and recollections which is the exaggeration done by him.
v. Repetition - The poet has repeated the word ‘thousand’.
vi. Enjambment - The sentences are being continued to the next line without a break. It can be observed throughout the stanza.
Meaning
Tinkle - light ringing sounds
Woof - weft
Explanation
The poet says that every tinkle on the roof has an echo is in heart. The sounds of rain on the rooftop repeats in his heart and he has fanciful dreams. The sounds of raindrops on the roof creates different dreams in his sleep. He recollects different memories in his dreams; he has many new dreams in his mind and the memories of the past come back in the form of dreams.
Stanza 3:
Now in memory comes my mother,
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
O! I feel her fond look on me
As I list to this refrain