The voice of the rain hornbill

class 11 hornbill poem

1. THE VOICE OF THE RAIN BY WALT WHITMAN

2. Who was Walt Whitman? Walt Whitman was an American poet, essayist, journalist and a humanist.He is often called 'father of free verse'.Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American Canon. When he was born? Walt Whitman was born on 31 May 1819 at West Hills,New York,U.S. and died at the age of 72 years. For what is Walt Whitman best known? His most known works are from his epic collection of poetry Leaves of Grass which was first published in 1855 and was republished several times over the next four decades. The last publication consisted of over 400 poems.In his poem leaves of Grass ,he celebrated democracy, nature, love and friendship. Walt whitman(1819-1892)

3. The poem of Walt Whitman presents a dialogue between the poet and the rain itself.The poem presents the cyclic movement of the rain.The rain is personified to describe herself.The rain describes what she is and what blessings she showers on Earth and men.

4. And who art thou? Said I to the soft-falling shower, Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated: I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain, Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and the bottomless sea, Upward to heaven, whence, vaguely form’d, altogether changed, and yet the same, I descend to lave the droughts, atomies, dust-layers of the globe, And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn; And forever, by day and night, I give back life to my own origin, And make pure and beautify it; (For song, issuing from its birth-place, after fulfilment, wandering Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)

5. THEME OF THE POEM- The poem celebrates rain and its natural-cycle for the benefit of earth and the life it supports. The poem is in the form of a conversation between the poet and the rain. The whole narrative of the rain is about how it leaves the ground, fulfills its duties in the atmosphere, and comes back to the ground out of love in order to beautify the world and spread life. It says that it purifies earth and also gives life to it. It returns back to earth exactly like a song, which finally returns to its singer in the form of appreciation after it is heard everywhere round the globe.

6. CENTRAL IDEA Through this poem, the poet tries to make us understand an important law of life. Whatever we get somewhere depends on what we are doing. If you do good for someone then good will come back to you either one day or another. Similarly, the rain is considered as poem of the earth which rises out of the land Upward towards the sky which in turn condenses and falls on the Earth ,droughts,washing away all the dust. In other word ,,”Everything which originates come back to it’s origin.”

7. POETIC DEVICES USED IN THE POEM - 1. PERSONIFICATION : The rain has been personified as it has been assigned a voice in the poem. 2. METAPHOR : The rain is being compared to a pem in the line,’I am the poem of Earth.’ 3. OXYMORON : Oxymoron is being used in the line 'Altogether changed and yet the same’ as two contradictory things at once of the same thing. 4. IMAGERY : “ Soft falling shower” as it visually describes the rain i.e. creates an image in the mind. HYPERBOLE : Bottomless sea as it’s an emphatic statement made by overstatement.

8. SUMMARY OF THE POEM- The poem 'Voice of the rain’ is written by Walt Whitman. The poem began by a question asked by poet to rain that who was she. The rain replied that she was poem of earth. She says that she rises impalpable out of land and sea in the vapour form. It then reaches upwards to heaven in the form of clouds, vaguely formed and all together same. It then returned to its birth place or origin, in the form of raindrops.It washes away the dust and rejuvenate the drought.It helps the seeds which are like hidden and unborn under the earth to take a new life and grow. The rain doesn’t care if anyone bothers about her deeds or not, she completes her work and come back to its original. It keeps enhancing the beauty and purify the air of the earth. It follows a life cycle again and again. At last coma the poet compares the rain to a song as the both follow a cycle. Just like the cycle of rain, the song originates from the heart of a writer or singer, travels across to fulfill its purpose and mindful of the recognization and returns with due love to its origintor.

9. AS POET COMPARES HIS LIFE TO THE CYCLE OF RAIN

10. IMPORTANT QUESTIONS Q.1.Whom does 'I’ refer to in the line ‘I am the poem of Earth’? A)The poet C)The rain
B)The roader D)The Earth Q.2.Without rain, seeds will remain: A)Not fully developed C)hidden B)Dry D)hidden and unborn Q.3.The place of origin of the rain is _________________________. Q.4.The rain makes it’s origin _________________ and _________________________. Q.5. Describe the never ending cycle of the rain. Q.6.How does the rain become the poem of the Earth? Q.7.Justify the title of the poem ‘The Voice Of the Rain’. Q.8. which poetic device has been used in ‘altogether changed and yet the same’? Explain. Q.9.What will happen if it doesn’t rain?

11. Made by: Disha Yadav Srishti
Vanshika Parevartan School
Grade 11