THE VOICE OF THE RAIN

THE VOICE OF THE RAIN

Poem

Word Meanings

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 drouths, 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, wander-ing, Reck'd or unreck'd. duly with love returns.)

Thou – you Eternal – everlasting  Impalpable – unable to be felt by touching Bottomless – very deep Whence – from where Vaguely – unclearly Descend – move of fall downwards Lave – wash Droughts – dry spells  Atomies – very tiny particles Latent - dormant, inactive Reck’d - cared about  Unreck’d - uncared for  Duly - properly, rightly

 

 

 

 

Poetic Devices Used in the Poem

 

Personification: Although rain is non living thing yet the poet treats it like living thing. So the rain has been personified as it has been given a voice in the rain.

Metaphor -  ‘I am the poem of the Earth’

Hyperbole - ‘Bottomless sea’.

Imagery -  ‘Soft falling Shower’

 

Walt Whitman: Summary and Analysis of "The Voice of the Rain"

 

·       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 then 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 changes form, but is always the same at its core and eventually returns to the poet as love from his readers.