Question

Line by line explanation of poem rain on the roof

Answer 1

1st Stanza:In this stanza, the poet describes a rainy night. He says that all the stars of the sky have become invisible because they have been covered by clouds. Darkness usually has a negative connotation, and the poet makes no exception to this rule. He says that the darkness is making him sad and reflective, and the rain also seems to mirror his emotions as it looks like tears falling softly from human eyes. At this point, the only thing that can bring joy to the poet is to curl up with a pillow in the bed of a country cottage. Though the rooms of the cottage may be small and ill-equipped, the sound of raindrops can only transport him there for him to recover from his melancholic mood. 2nd stanza: In this stanza, the poet describes how the raindrops make the loudest sound as they fall on the shingles of the roof. Each sound that is made by the rain in this way is repeated the next instant by the beating of his heart. The things he has only been imagining now start to appear before his very eyes. As he is listening to the soft and continuous falling of the raindrops on his roof, all his memories are coming back to him. ( 3rd stanza): In this stanza, the poet describes the first memory that he can actually identify among the patchwork that all his memories have formed by meshing together. He remembers how many years ago, in his childhood, his mother used to look down at him and his siblings as they were sleeping and having pleasant dreams. His mother would make a point to look at them every night, for she knew she would not see them again till the next morning. What the poet remembers more than anything is how his mother would bend down and watch over him in particular. 4th stanza:In this stanza, the poet imagines his younger brother and younger sister as angels. It may seem unbelievable that he could think so highly of them, as if there was no sibling rivalry or mischievous fights among them at all. However, we should not assume that it was so. The fact is that memory often has a way of influencing our perceptions of the past. Though the poet may have fought often with his siblings, he only wants to remember them as their beautiful, sweet and innocent selves. 5th stanza: In this stanza, the poet remembers a lover who had once attracted his attention, and aroused strong emotions in him, with the intense blue colour of her eyes. This lover had not been faithful to him though. However, the poet chooses not to remember such unpleasant things. Instead he focuses on himself, and remembers how his love for her was a strange mix of both joy and pain.