Rain on the Roof | Analysis of the Poem | NCERT solution | Class IX

NCERT Official Video on Rain on the Roof

Rain on the Roof

Theme:

• This poem highlights the poet’s recollection of his mother when he was a child.

• Every patter of raindrops on the roof reminds him how his mother used to put her children to sleep in the backdrop of a rainy day.

• When the poet is alone in his cottage and resting at night, the sound of the refrain on the roof brings memories of the past.

Poem-At-A-Glance:

• The poet describes how blissful he considers himself on hearing the sound of raindrops as he lied in his bed at night.

• He experiences blissful moment to press his head against the pillow in his cottage-chamber bed while listening to the patter of the soft rain overhead.

• The poet recollects the pleasant memories of his childhood days when his mother would watch over her children and make them fall asleep.

• The recollection is so lively that poet feels her loving gaze on him even now as he hears the pattering raindrops falling on the roof of his house.

Stanza 1

When the humid shadows hover

Over all the starry spheres

And the melancholy darkness

Gently weeps in rainy tears,

What a bliss to press the pillow

Of a cottage-chamber bed

And lie listening to the patter

Of the soft rain overhead!

Vocabulary:

1. humid shadows: heavy dark clouds that bring rain.

2. hover: move

3. starry spheres: stars at night.

4. melancholy darkness: the entire sky becomes overcast with clouds and it seems like the sky is sad.

5. rainy tears: When the clouds in the sky give way to rainfall, it seems the sky is crying.

6. cottage-chamber bed: bed in his cottage.

7. Patter: soft sound made by the raindrops on the roof.

Analysis:

The poet means to say that when heavy dark clouds in the sky bring rainfall on earth, it appears like a tear falling from the sky, which wipe out the sad darkness of the night. The poet further says that the rainfall with a pattering sound on the roof brings immense pleasure in his mind and he love to duck his head into the pillow of his cottage bed and enjoy the heavenly pleasure that the rain brings along with it.

Stanza 2

Every tinkle on the shingles

Has an echo in the heart;

And a thousand dreamy fancies

Into busy being start,

And a thousand recollections

Weave their air-threads into woof,

As I listen to the patter

Of the rain upon the roof.

Vocabulary:

1. tinkle: clinking sounds.

2. shingles: rectangular wooden tiles used on roofs.

3. a thousand dreamy fancies: many thoughts that come to the poet’s mind.

4. busy-being: thoughts occupying the mind of the poet.

5. thousand recollections: memories of the past surface in the mind of the poet.

6. weave their air-threads into woof: thousand memories make a beautiful pattern in the minds of the poet.

Analysis:

The poet says that every clinking sound made on the shingles has a feeling of ecstasy in his heart. A thousand dream-like thoughts keep flooding back into his mind , which keep him occupied till he falls asleep. With a dreamy-like picture in his mind come a thousand recollection of the past, which get embedded with one another and weave a fanciful picture in his mind. Thus the poet goes into the state of untold happiness and blissful state of mind whenever the raindrops patter on the roof of his house.

Stanza 3

Now in memory comes my mother

As she used in years agone

To regard the darling dreamers

Ere she left them till the dawn

O! I feel her fond look on me

As I list to this refrain

Which is played upon the shingles

By the patter of the rain.

Vocabulary:

1. darling dreamers: siblings of the poet.

2. Ere she left them till the dawn: the poet’s mother used to put her children to sleep till early morning.

3. refrain: Here the patter of raindrops on the roof. It brings the memory alive in the mind of the poet.

Analysis:

The memory of his mother comes flooding back in his mind with sound of the pattering of raindrops on the roof. In the past, she used to cast a caring glance at her children while putting them asleep at night in the background of the sound of raindrops on the roof of their house.

NCERT SOLUTION:

Thinking about the poet

1.1. What do the following phrases mean to you? Discuss in class.

(i) ‘humid shadows’

‘Humid shadows’ refer to the heavy dark clouds that bring rain.

ii) ‘Starry spheres

‘Starry spheres refers to the sky studded with stars.

iii) What a bliss

The phrase means that the poet undergoes blissful experience when he hears the pattering sound of raindrops on the roof of his house.

iv) a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start

This expression means that as the poet listens to the sound of pattering raindrops, thousand dreams keep surfacing in his mind and keep him occupied.

v) a thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof.

This expression refers to the fact that with the background of rainy night a host of memories of the past with his mother lulling her children to sleep come flooding back in his mind and form a dreamy picture in his mind.

2. What does the poet like to do when it rains?

Ans: The poet like to lie in his bed with head burrowed into the pillow and listen to the sound of pattering sound of the rain drops.

3. What is the single major memory that comes to the poet? Who are the ‘darling dreamer’ he refers to ?

Ans: The single major memory is that of her mother casting a caring glance at her children while putting them to sleep.

‘darling dreamers’ refer to the poet and his siblings who were together lulled to sleep by the poet’s mother.

3. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?

Ans: No, the poet is grown-up now. We can understand this fact from his nostalgic moment of the past.

His mother may not be alive now. We can guess the fact from his fond recollection of his mother and how she used to cast a loving glance at all of them and put them to sleep makes us thinks that his mother may not be alive.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< End >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>