Class Notes
Class: XI
Topic: The Voice of the Rain by Walt Whitman
Subject: English
About the Poet
Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist.
A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both
views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the
father of free verse, though he did not invent it.
Theme
The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain' by Walt Whitman signifies the eternal role that the rain plays in
nurturing, quenching and purifying the various elements of Earth. The rain returns the favour to its
place of origin from where it rises unseen from the depths of the water and from the land.
Analysis of the Poem
Introduction:
The poem ‘The Voice of the Rain’ written by Walt Whitman is about the poet’s imaginary conversation with
rain droplets. In the end, he says that his poetry is like the rain droplets as both of them play a crucial role
in the world- of making it livelier.
The poem is a free verse without any rhyme scheme. It lacks a specific form, metre and consists of single
stanza having 9 lines.
Summary:
The poet is in an imaginary conversation with the rain which he calls ‘the soft-falling shower’. He asks the
rain, “And who art thou?” to which, he says, strangely, the rain replies. The poet translates for the readers
to understand what the rain answered. The rain tells the poet in her ‘voice’ that she is the Poem of Earth. In
a way, the sound of raindrops falling on the ground is ‘voice of rain’ according to the poet which is musical.
The rain further tells the poet that it keeps rising forever in the form of vapours which are ‘impalpable’ ‘out
of the land and the bottomless sea’ to the ‘heaven’.
There, the vapours form clouds. Their form is changed yet their basic structure remains the same. Now the
rain comes down ‘to lave’ the droughts, atomies and dust-layers of the whole world.
The rain says that if it would not have done so, the trees would have been just the seeds-
unborn and undeveloped. It keeps giving life to its own origin i.e. it cleanses and nourishes the earth to
make it pure and beautiful.
In the final lines, the poet draws a parallel between rain and music as both has the ability to soothe. Both of
them rejuvenate and heal life. Hence the poet, in the poem, tries to show the significance of his poetry. As
rain is to the earth, poetry is to mankind.
Central Idea
The central idea of the poem The Voice of the Rain is that both rain and poetry hold a significant position on
the earth. The rain originates from the bottom of the seas In the form of water vapours. The rise to the sky
