Chapter 3 – The Voice of the Rain Top Questions and Answers: NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English (Hornbill Poem)

Question 1.
There are two voices in the poem. Who do they belong to? Which lines indicate this?

Answer:
The two voices in the poem are that of the poet or narrator and of the rain. The first two lines indicate the two speakers. The poet questions the gentle rain “And who art thou?” and much to his surprise it gives him an answer, that he translates.

Question 2.
What does the phrase “strange to tell” mean?

Answer:
The phrase “strange to tell” could suggest
that the poet is surprised to receive an answer from the rain,
the poet is surprised at the answer. It is something that he had not really given a thought to.

Question 3.
There is a parallel drawn between rain and music. Which words indicate this? Explain the similarity between the two.

Answer:
There is a similarity between rain and music; it is indicated in the last two lines of the poem. The rain takes a full circle and comes back to its creator, just like the song that originates from its birthplace and after travelling around the earth, comes back to its place of origin.

Question 4.
How is the cyclic movement of rain brought out in the poem? Compare it with what you have learnt in science.

Answer:
In the poem, the rain chalks out its course from the sea or earth to the heaven and then back. In the process, it changes form. The water cycle follows the same course—evaporation, condensation and precipitation.

Question 5.
Why are the last two lines put within brackets?

Answer:
The last two lines are put within brackets because they are not a part of the dialogue between the narrator and rain. It is the similarity that the poet establishes between a song and rain.

Question 6.
List the pairs of opposites found in the poem.

Answer:
rise – descend
changed – same
land – sea
reck’d – unreck’d
vaguely – formed
lave – droughts
wandering – returns
latent/unbom – life

II. Notice the following sentence patterns.
1. And who art thou? said I to the soft-failing shower.
2. I am the Poem of Earth, said the voice of the rain.
3. Eternal I rise
4. For song…duly with love returns Rewrite the above sentences in prose.

Answer:
Rewrite the above sentences in prose.
1. I asked the gently falling rain, “Who are you?”
2. The voice of the rain said, “I am the poetry of the Earth.”
3. I ascend from the earth without end.
4. Like the song that originates from its birthplace and after completion, travels around the earth, whether one takes heed of it or not, and then comes back to its place of origin with love.
Extra Questions and Answers

Question 1.
Why does the poet call the poem a translation ?

Answer:
The poet asks the rain a question. The rain in its heavenly voice, answers the question. The poet has to translate that answer in simple English.

Question 2.
How are the clouds formed ?

Answer:
Clouds are bom out of the union of the sky and the ocean. The hot sun takes the water vapours upward. The clouds dissolve into water again in rainy season.

Question 3.
How does the rain describe herself ?

Answer:
The soft falling shower calls itself the Poem of Earth. It is immortal. It may change ! in shape but it remains the same water.

Question 4.
‘Altogether change, and yet the same’. Say, what it means.

Answer:
The sea. water in summer turns into water vapours which rise to the sky in the form of clouds. The clouds come down again in the form of rain water. So the change is apparent, but not real.

Question 5.
How does ‘it’ descend ? What does it do ?

Answer:
The clouds descend or come down to the earth again here and there. It takes on funny and terrifying shape. When it comes down, it waters the dry fields and forests. It washes away dust particles and give a new life to seeds.

Question 6.
I give back life to my own origin. How does the rain do it ?

Answer:
The rain originates from the land and sea. It rises to the sky only to come down again. It enables the seeds to sprout and grow water is the soul of nature. Without rain, the earth would become a deadly desert.

Question 7.
What is the ‘fulfilment’ of the rain ?

Answer:
The fulfilment of the rain is in its service to nature. It gives a new life to seeds, to grass and to earth.

Question 8.
Sum up the life story of the rain or the cloud in about 80 words.

Answer:
The poet asks the gentle shower about its origin and function. The clouds carry water in the form of vapours. They draw this water from the land and the sea. They change in form only. They come to earth’s rescue when its becomes dry and thirsty. They wash away the dust particles in the air as well as earthly objects. The seeds wake up and come alive. The cloud returns to the earth what it takes out of it. This cycle gives on and on eternally.