AHSEC Class 11 English Chapter 11 Answer 2026 | The Voice Of The Rain | Lesson 11 | POETRY SECTION | Class 11 English Question Answer | HS 1st Year English Assamese Medium | Class 11 Lesson 2 All Question Answer | Seba Question Answer HS 1st Year English |
Chapter 11
THE VOICE OF THE RAIN
TEXTBOOK EXERCISES
THINK IT OUT
1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to ? Which lines indicate this?
Answer: The two voices belong to the poet and the personified rain.
The poet’s voice is heard when he asks the soft-falling shower who it is. The rain’s voice begins when it identifies itself as the “Poem of Earth” and then explains its journey from the earth to the sky and back again.
2. What does the phrase ‘’strange to tell’’ mean?
Answer: The phrase “strange to tell” means that what the poet is about to describe is unusual and surprising.
It is strange because rain cannot literally speak, yet in the poet’s imagination it answers his question and describes itself.
3. There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.
Answer: The comparison is suggested by expressions such as “Poem of Earth” and by the final comparison with a song.
Rain rises from its source, travels through the sky, fulfils its purpose and returns to the earth. In the same way, a song originates from its creator, travels out into the world and remains connected with its source.
Rain refreshes and gives life to the earth, while music brings expression, beauty and emotional fulfilment.
4. How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science?
Answer: The poem describes rain as rising continuously in an invisible form from the land and the sea. It moves upward, changes its form and later descends to the earth as rain.
When it returns, it washes the dry and dusty earth and helps hidden seeds grow.
This is similar to the water cycle described in science. Water evaporates from the earth and water bodies, rises into the atmosphere, condenses into clouds and returns as precipitation. The water then reaches rivers, soil, seas and oceans, and the cycle continues.
5. Why are the last two lines put within brackets?
Answer: The last two lines are placed within brackets because they are not part of the direct conversation between the poet and the rain.
They contain the poet’s own reflection comparing the journey of rain with that of a song. Both leave their place of origin, fulfil their purpose and return with love, whether they are noticed or not.
6. List the pairs of opposites found in the poem?
Answer: The pairs of opposites found in the poem are:
rise and descend
day and night
changed and the same
reck’d and unreck’d
II. Notice the following sentence patterns:
1. And who art thou? Said I to the soft-falling shower.
Answer: I asked the soft-falling shower who it was.
2. I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.
Answer: The voice of the rain said that it was the Poem of Earth.
3. Eternal I rise.
Answer: I rise eternally.
4. For song...... duly with love returns.
Answer: A song comes from its place of origin, travels after fulfilling its purpose and finally returns with love, whether it is noticed or not.
III. Look for some more poems on the rain and see how this one is different from them.
Answer: Many poems about rain mainly describe its beauty, sound, atmosphere or the emotions it creates.
“The Voice of the Rain” is different because the rain itself is given a voice and speaks directly to the poet. It explains its own journey from the earth to the sky and back again.
The poem also connects the natural cycle of rain with the creative journey of a song, which makes it different from an ordinary description of rainfall.
SHORT ANSWER TYPE QUESTIONS
1. What question does the poet put to the rain and how does he feel when he gets the answer?
Answer: The poet asks the soft-falling rain who it is.
He is surprised when the rain seems to answer him. Since rain cannot literally speak, the reply is presented as something unusual and imaginative. The poet then expresses the rain’s answer in human language.
2. What answer does the rain give to the poet regarding herself and her origin?
Answer: The rain tells the poet that it is the “Poem of Earth”.
It says that it rises eternally in an invisible form from the land and the bottomless sea, goes upward to the sky and changes its form before returning to the earth as rain.
3. What happens when the rain descends in the form of showers?
Answer: When the rain descends, it washes the dry and dusty earth and gives new life to it.
It also helps the seeds hidden in the soil to sprout and grow. Thus, rain refreshes, purifies and renews the earth.
4. Describe the never ending cycle of the rain?
Answer: Rain rises from the land and sea in the form of water vapour. It moves upward into the atmosphere, changes its form and later falls back to the earth as rain.
After reaching the earth, the water eventually becomes part of the land, rivers and seas again. From there, it rises once more and the cycle continues endlessly.
5. What will happen if it doesn’t rain?
Answer: Without rain, the earth would become dry and dusty and many plants would not receive enough water to grow.
Seeds lying in the soil might remain inactive, and vegetation would suffer. Rain is therefore essential for renewing the earth and supporting life.
6. How does the rain become the voice of the earth?
Answer: The rain is called the voice or poem of the earth because it rises from the earth and returns to nourish it.
Its falling sound is like music, while its water cleans the land, helps seeds grow and brings freshness and life. Through rain, the earth seems to express its own song.
7. Justify the title ‘The Voice of the Rain’.
Answer: The title “The Voice of the Rain” is appropriate because the poem presents rain as if it were a living being capable of speaking.
The rain answers the poet’s question and explains its origin, journey and purpose. It describes itself as the “Poem of Earth” and shows how it rises from the earth, returns to it and gives life to it.
The soft sound of falling rain also resembles a natural voice or song. Therefore, the title effectively reflects both the personification of rain and its close connection with the earth.
Teacher Generate Question Answer
TEXTBOOK EXERCISES
THINK IT OUT
1. There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to ? Which lines indicate this?
Answer:- Walt Whitman describes the cyclic movement of the rain. First of all, she rises out of the land and the bottomless sea in the form of water vapours. In the sky she cools down and takes the form of showers. The showers fall back to the place of their origin. Hence, the cycle is complete.
Answer:- The last two lines put within brackets give an extended meaning to the poem. Here the poet comments on the music of the rain. The rain is like a song. The rain is the song(poem) of the earth. After rising out of the earth and completing its course, it comes back to the earth. It doesn’t matter if someone hears or notices it or not.
2. The rain expressed in its voice and said that she was the poem or the song of the earth.
3. The water-vapours in the form of rain rise constantly out of the land and the bottomless sea for ever.
4. The rain, the music and the song of the earth, come back to her place of origin, the earth. The song of the earth returns with love after completing its course whether someone hears it or not.
Answer:- Many English poets have written poems celebrating the coming of the rain. But “The voice of The Rain” is a unique rain poem. It presents a dialogue between the poet and the rain itself.
Answer:- The poet watches the falling showers of the rain. The showers are falling very lightly producing a soft music. The poet is fascinated and asks who she is. Strangely enough, the rain herself answers the question posed to her. The poet feels really surprised to get an answer and translates the answer into his own language.
Answer:- The rain, quite strangely, answers the question posed to her. She replies that she is the song or poem of the earth. She rises eternally day and night from the land and the bottomless sea into the sky. In the sky, vaguely, the vapours cool down and take the shape of showers and the rain.
Answer:- The rain proves a blessing for the earth. When the showers of rain fall down on earth, they wash away all the droughts, dust and the other impurities of the earth. The seeds lying hidden in the earth suddenly sprout to life when it rains. So the rain gives a new lease of life to the earth.
Answer:- The rain goes on completing a fixed cycle day in and day out. She rises in the form of water vapours out of the land and the bottomless sea. She rises towards the sky where when she cools down she takes the shape of showers. The showers fall back to the place of its origin- the earth. Hence, the cycle is complete.
Answer:- The rain gives a new lease of life to the earth. When she comes to the place of her origin, the earth comes to life once again. Without the showers of rain, all seeds lying hidden in the earth will not sprout and keep on lying inside as seeds. The showers of rain bring a new life on the earth. They cause the seeds to sprout into saplings and wash down all the dust and impurities of the earth.
Answer:- Walt Whitman calls the showers of rain as ‘the poem of the earth’. Rainy season gives a new lease of life to the scorched and parched earth. The rain makes the seeds sprout in the form of saplings. Rain makes the earth pure and beautifies it. Actually it is the voice or the song of the earth. The earth finds its expression only through the showers of the rain.
Answer:- The title of the poem is appropriate, just and logical. The cycle of rain is a natural phenomenon. Actually, the rain rises out of the earth and the bottomless sea in the form of water vapours. In the sky they take the shape of the rain. The light and soft music of the falling rain is actually the song of the earth itself. After wandering from the earth to the sky, it comes back to the place of its origin, the earth.
