THE VOICE OF THE RAIN -By Walt Whitman

• 02,Sep 2025
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🌧️ THE VOICE OF THE RAIN – By Walt Whitman

📅 21 Nov 2025 | ✍️ Posted By: Vandana | 💬 Comments
🎓 Class XI English – CBSE Course

⭐ STORY 16 – The Voice of the Rain: A Tale on Embracing Imperfections

👩‍🏫 Author: Ms. Vandana Harit
Lecturer in English ,Education Department – Directorate of Education, Govt. of Delhi, India

🌻 Moral of the Story

✨ True beauty lies in accepting imperfections.
When we embrace flaws—our own and others’—we free ourselves from the endless chase for perfection and discover peace, fulfillment, and authenticity. 🌈💛

🌈 Poem Overview and Theme

In The Voice of the Rain, Walt Whitman lets the rain speak in its own voice as it narrates its eternal journey—rising from the earth, transforming, returning, and nurturing life.
The poet humanize the rain, calling it the Poem of Earth, emphasize its creative, life-giving, and cyclical role.

📖 Stanza-Wise Explanation

🌦️ Stanza 1

“And who art thou? said I to the soft-falling shower,
Which, strange to tell, gave me an answer, as here translated:”

The poet speaks directly to the rain, asking it to reveal its identity.
Surprisingly, the rain responds — creating a magical, mystical tone. ✨

Figure of Speech:
👉 Personification: Rain is given the human ability to speak.

🌧️ Stanza 2

“I am the Poem of Earth,” said the voice of the rain,
“Eternal I rise impalpable out of the land and bottomless sea.”

The rain calls itself the Poem of Earth, symbolizing beauty, rhythm, and life.
It rises invisibly as vapor from land and sea. 🌊☁️

Figures of Speech:

• 🌿 Metaphor: Rain as the “Poem of Earth”

• 🌦️ Personification: Rain speaks like a human

🌤️ Stanza 3

“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,”

The rain describes its transformation into clouds and its return to earth.
Though its form changes, its essence remains the same.
It quenches drought and purifies the soil. 🌱💧

Figure of Speech:

• ⚖️ Antithesis: “Altogether changed, and yet the same”

🌱 Stanza 4

“And all that in them without me were seeds only, latent, unborn;”

Seeds remain dormant until rain nourishes them.
Rain awakens life. 🌾✨

Figure of Speech:

• 🎨 Imagery: “latent, unborn” paints a vivid picture of seeds coming alive.

☔ Stanza 5

“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 birthplace, after fulfilment, wandering,
Reck’d or unreck’d, duly with love returns.)”

Rain completes its eternal cycle — returning to earth, purifying it, and making it beautiful. 🌍💧
Whitman compares rain to a song, which fulfills its purpose and returns to its creator with love. 🎵❤️

Figure of Speech:

• 🎼 Implied Simile: Rain’s journey is compared to a song’s journey.

✨ Poetic Devices & Figures of Speech

• 🌦️ Personification: Rain speaks (“voice of the rain”).

• 🌿 Metaphor: Rain as the “Poem of Earth.”

• ⚖️ Antithesis: “Changed, and yet the same.”

• 🎨 Imagery: “Droughts,” “atomies,” “dust-layers.”

• 🔁 Repetition: “Forever, by day and night.”

• 🌈 Symbolism: Rain as the cycle of life, purity, and creativity.

🌟 Key Takeaways

• 🔄 Cycle of Rain = Cycle of Life: Nature thrives through renewal.

• 🌱 Nature’s Power of Rebirth: Rain awakens and nourishes life.

• 🎶 Rain & Poetry: Both create beauty and return to their source.

📝 Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to?

✔️ Ans: One belongs to the poet and the other to the rain.

Q2. What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?

✔️ Ans: It refers to the surprising phenomenon of rain answering the poet—an inanimate object speaking.

Q3. How is a parallel drawn between rain and music? Which words indicate this?

✔️ Ans:
Words like “Poem of Earth” and “song duly with love returns” indicate the parallel.
Both rise from a source, wander, fulfill their purpose, and return lovingly to their origin — whether appreciated or not. 🎵💧