Summary of the voice of the rain class 11
Answers
Summary
In the poem ‘Voice of Rain’ by Walt Whitman the poet has beautifully described his unique experience he had with rain. One day he asked rain who it was. To his utter amazement the rain answered him.
The rain replied that it is (Rain is ongoing natural phenomenon) the poem of earth; it has been rising invisibly from land and water bodies in vapor form and forming clouds in the sky and waits to fall back to its sources.
As it descends down from heaven in drops of life, it ends droughts; settles dust back to the ground, and gives life to seeds and plants that would not grow without it.
Thus gratefully it gives life back to its origin. It purifies and beautifies the earth. The rain like a song heard or unheard, returns back to its origin.
SUMMARY
In this poem, the speaker recounts a conversation he had with the falling raindrops. He asks the rain, "And who art thou?" and strangely, the rain answers, calling itself "the poem of the Earth." The rain goes on to describe how it rises intangibly (as vapor) out of the land and sea and floats up to heaven, where it changes form and becomes a cloud. Then it falls back to Earth to refresh the drought-filled land, allowing seeds to grow into something vital and beautiful. The speaker the equates the role of the rain to a poet's role in crafting this "song" (or poem, because Whitman refers to his poems as songs throughout Leaves of Grass). He goes on to write that the "song" is born in the poet's heart. It leaves the poet's soul and and changes form, but is always the same at its core and eventually returns to the poet as love from his readers.