NCERT QUESTION ANSWERS

7.Song of the Rain  (poem) – by  Kahlil Gibran

Answer the following:

1.Why is the rain divine?

Ans. Rain is divine because it falls from the heaven (the sky) and fills the earth with joy and beauty.

2. In the universe, rain performs many functions.  What are those?

Ans.    i. Rain quenches the thirst of fields.

       ii. It fills fields and valleys with a new life.

       iii. It produces sweet music as it beats against windows and the leaves of trees.

       iv. It fills every heart with joy.

3.    “When I cry the hills laugh,

       When I humble myself the flowers rejoice;

       When I bow, all things are elated.”

Cry, humble and bow indicate different intensity with which the rain falls.  Explain the three in context.

Ans.  Cry: When the rain falls heavily on the hills, they produce the sound of laughter.

       Humble: When the rain falls gently and softly, the flowers bloom and rejoice.

       Bow  : When the rain changes itself into a soft drizzle, all things are elated.

4. How do you think the rain quenches the thirst of the fields and cures cloud’s ailment?

Ans. The heat of summer parches the fields.  They become dry and thirsty.  When it rains, their thirst is quenched. 

       When the clouds become too much saturated with water, they fall down as rain.  Thus the rain cures the ailment (the obesity) of the clouds. 

5.  Think about a million little ways in which the rain embraces the trees.  Mention a few of them.

Ans. The embrace of the rain produces

the actual poem

innumerable musical strains.  The embrace produces a different strain in every tree.  The embrace makes some trees wet; some trees get soaked; others begin to glisten; some get washed away or become sticky.  In fact, the list can be endless.

6.  ‘------------------ All can hear, but only

       The sensitive can understand’

What does the poet want to convey?

About the poet.

Ans.  Everyone can hear the sounds produced by rain as it falls on various things.  But not many can understand the true significance and value of rain.  Only feeling hearts can sense it.

7. Notice the imagery built around ‘sigh of the sea’, ‘laughter of the field’ and ‘tears of heaven’.  Explain the three expressions in context of rain.

Ans.  ‘Sigh of the sea’ is a brilliant image.  It creates an image of the soft, gentle and tender movement of the sea when the rain falls in it. 

       ‘Laughter of the field’ is a beautiful image.  It creates an image of the happiness of the field when the rain falls on it and quenches its thirst. 

       ‘Tears of heaven’ is a subtle image.  It creates an image of the drops of the rain falling from the sky on the earth when the cloud bursts.  When the cloud bursts, it dies.  So the drops of rain are referred to as the tears of heaven.

8. ‘I am like earthly life…………’

Why does the poet call rain as earthly life?

Ans. The poet calls rain as earthly life because the fate of the rain is like that of the man on earth.  When the child is born, it grows up into a young man and then an old man, and then it dies in the end.  Similarly the rain is born in the form of a cloud in the sky.  When the cloud bursts, it dies. 

9. Explain the ending of the poem.

Ans.  At the end of the poem, the rain declares affectionately that it is the sigh of the deep sea, the laughter of the colourful fields and the tears of the sky.  When the rain falls in the sea, it (the sea) sighs.  When the rain falls on the fields and quenches their thirst, the fields rejoice, become colourful and feel happy.  When the cloud bursts, it becomes rain.  The cloud dies and the drops of rain (tears of the heaven) fall on the earth.

Read the lines given below and answer the questions that follow.

1. I am beautiful pearls, plucked from the

Crown of Ishtar by the daughter of Dawn

To embellish the gardens.

a)Who is ‘I’ referred to here?

Ans. ‘I’ here is the rain.

b) What is the tone of the speaker?

Ans. The tone of the speaker is of pride.

c) What do you mean by Ishtar?

Ans. Ishtar is the goddess of fertility, love, war and sex.

2.The voice of thunder declares my arrival;

The rainbow announces my departure.

a)When do we learn that the rain has come?

Ans. We learn about the arrival of the rain when we hear the voice of the thunder.

b) When does the rainbow appear in the sky?

Ans. The rainbow appears in the sky after the rain has stopped.

3.I quench the thirst of the one;

I cure the ailment of the other.

a)Who is the speaker in these lines?

Ans. The rain is the speaker in these lines.

b) Who is referred to the ‘other’ here?

Ans. The ‘other’ here is the cloud.

c) State one function of the rain.

Ans. The rain quenches the thirst of fields.

4.I emerge from the heart of the sea and

Soar with the breeze

a)What is the origin of the rain?

Ans. The sky is the origin of the rain.

 b) In what form does rain soar towards the sky?

Ans. The rain soars towards the sky in the form of water vapours.

5. I am the sigh of the sea

The laughter of the field

The tears of heaven

a)When does the sea seem to sigh?

Ans. The sea seems to sigh when water vapours rise from it to the sky.

b)When does the field laugh?

Ans. The field laughs when rain falls on it and quenches its thirst.

c) What do ‘the tears of heaven’ signify?

Ans. ‘The tears of heaven’ signify rain drops that fall from the sky down on the earth.