NAME

DATE
KALAPANA

1. Why is the rain divine?

2. In the universe, rain performs many functions. What are those?
3. When I cry the hills laugh,
When I humble myself the flowers rejoice;
When I bow, all things are elated.
a) Cry, humble and bow indicate different intensity with which the rain falls.
Explain the three in context.
b) Give an example of Anaphora from the above quoted lines and explain it.
4. How do you think the rain quenches the thirst of the fields and cures clouds
ailment?
5. Think about a million little ways in which the rain embraces the trees.
Mention a few of them.
6. ------------------ All can hear, but only
The sensitive can understand
What does the poet want to convey?
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.
8. I am like earthly life
Why does the poet call rain as earthly life?
9. Explain the ending of the poem.
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)
b)
c)
d)
e)

Who is I referred to here?

What is the tone of the speaker?
What do you mean by Ishtar?
Who is daughter of Dawn?
Which figures of speech do you find in the first line?

2. The voice of thunder declares my arrival;

The rainbow announces my departure.
a) When do we learn that the rain has come?
b) When does the rainbow appear in the sky?
3. I quench the thirst of the one;
I cure the ailment of the other.
a) Who is the speaker in these lines?
b) Who is referred to the other here?
c) State one function of the rain.
4. I emerge from the heart of the sea and
Soar with the breeze
a) What is the origin of the rain?
b) In what form does rain soar towards the sky?

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?
b) When does the field laugh?
c) What do the tears of heaven signify?

1. So with love - Sighs from the deep sea of affection ;

Laughter from the colourful field of the spirit; Tears from
the endless heaven of memories.
(a) Who is the speaker ?
(i) the rain
(ii) the poet
(iii) the heaven
(iv) the fields
(b) The above lines convey
(i) the introduction of the poet.
(ii) the introduction of the rain.
(iii) the introduction of ishtar.
(iv) emotions of the poet.
(c) identify the figure of speech used in the stanza
(i) metaphor
(ii) simile
(iii) personification
(iv) personfication and metaphor
2. On the basis of your understanding of the poem 'Song of the Rain', answer
the following question by ticking the correct choice.
(a) The rain calls itself the dotted silver threads as .
(i) the shimmering drops fall one after the other
(ii) it ties heaven and earth
(iii) it dots the earth with shimmering water
(iv) it decorates the fields
(b) The tone and mood of the rain in the poem reflects its .
(i) love for the earth
(ii) desire to take revenge
(iii) merriment as it destroys
(iv) desire to look beautiful
3. I touch gently at the windows with my Soft fingers, and my announcement is
a
Welcome song. All can hear, but only the sensitive can understand.
(a) I in the stanza stands for
(i) greenery.
(ii) the poet.
(iii) rain.
(iv) nature.

(b) but only The sensitive can understand implies that

(i) rain is personification of human emotions which can be understood by sensitive
people only.
(ii) feelings and emotions can be appreciated by all irrespective of their age.
(iii) the message of the rain song reaches all.
(iv) the message of the rain is not clear.
(c) identify the figure of speech used in the poem.
(i) personification
(ii) simile
(iii) metaphor
(iv) pun
4. I am the sigh of the sea ; The laughter of the field ; The tears of heaven.
(a) The tone and mood of the rain in the stanza reflects its
(i) love for the field and pang of separation from the sea and the heaven.
(ii) love for the sea and pang of separation from the heaven.
(iii) merriment.
(iv) love for the sea.
(b) The laughter of the field , the field laughs on its arrival because
(i) it decorates them.
(ii) it gives them fertility and life to flowers.
(iii) the fields make fun of the rain.
(iv) it brings a message from the clouds for them.
(c) Identify the figure of speech used in the stanza.
(i) metaphor
(ii) simile
(iii) pun
(iv) personification
5. The voice of thunder declares my arrival; The rainbow announces my
departure.
i am like earthly life which begins at The feet of the mad elements and ends
Under the upraised wings of death.
(a) Who is i here ?
(i)poet
(ii) nature
(iii) rain
(iv) gardens
(b) Who announces its arrival and departure ?
(i) thunder and rainbow respectively
(ii) rainbow and thunder respectively
(iii) nature
(iv) weather
(c) i am like earthly life implies that
(i) its birth and death are similar to all the lives on the earth.
(ii) it has a big role in earthly life.
(iii) it has no role to play in the lives of people on the earth.
(iv) its arrival is not liked at all

6. I emerge from the heart of the sea and Soar with the breeze. When i see a
field in
Need, i descend and embrace the flowers and The trees in a million little
ways.
(a) The tone and mood of the rain in the stanza reflects its
(i) love for the earth.
(ii) desire to take revenge.
(iii) merriment as it destroys.
(iv) desire to look beautiful.
(b) The stanza shows a process. it is called
(i) hydrocycle.
(ii) evaporation.
(iii) condensation,
(iv) rainfall.
(c) i descend and embrace the flowers implies
(i) that rain loves the fields, it revitalises the greenery.
(ii) that rain gives life to flowers.
(iii) that rain brings life to the earth.
(iv) all the above.

7. I am beautiful pearls, plucked from the Crown of ishtar by the daughter of

Dawn
To embellish the gardens.
(a) What has been compared to the beautiful pearls ?
(i) the rain drops
(ii) the poet
(iii) the flowers in the garden
(iv) the pearls in the crown of ishtar
(b) embellish the gardens implies that
(i) the rain is rejoiced by the earth as it brings prosperity and fertility.
(ii) that rain brings some natural calamity.
(iii) that rain destroys the gardens as it uproots the trees.
(iv) the rain decorates the gardens as it looks like beautiful pearls plucked
from the crown.
(c) identify the figure of speech used in the stanza.
(i) personification and metaphor
(ii) personification and simile
(iii) personification only
(iv) simile only

8. When I cry the hills laugh ; When i humble myself the flowers rejoice;
When I bow, all things are elated.
(a) What do the words cry, humble, bow indicate ?
(i) the intensity with which the rain falls
(ii) different moods of the poet
(iii) feelings of the reader
(iv) different seasons

(b) The arrival of rain is

(i) not welcomed and enjoyed by hills.
(ii) welcomed by flowers but not by the hills.
(iii) welcomed by all, the hills and the gardens.
(iv) uncertain.
(c) i cry the hills laugh ;. . . . Identify the figure of speech used in the line.
(i) simile
(ii) metaphor
(iii) personification
(iv) pun
9. The field and the cloud are lovers And between them i am a messenger of
mercy. i quench the thirst of the one ; i cure the ailment of the other.
(a) The field and the cloud are lovers ... is an example of
(i) metaphor.
(ii) simile.
(iii) personification,
(iv) pun.
(b) The field and the cloud are lovers ... How does the rain help the two ?
(i) it brings them closer by acting as a silver thread that binds the two.
(ii) it separates both of them by coming in between the two.
(iii) it satisfies the thirst of the fields and purifies the clouds of their ailment.
(iv) it plays no role for them.
(c) Who is the messenger of mercy ?
(i) the clouds
(ii) the poet
(iii) the rain
(iv) ishtar, the Goddess of fertility
10.
I am dotted silver threads dropped from heaven
By the Gods. Nature then takes me, to adorn Her fields and valleys.
(a) Who is I here ?
(i) the rain
(ii) the poet
(iii) Gods
(iv) Nature
(b) i calls itself the dotted silver threads as
(i) the shimmering drops fall one after the other.
(ii) it ties heaven and earth.
(iii) it dots the earth with shimmering water.
(iv) it decorates the fields.
(c) identify the figure of speech used in the extract
(i) simile.
(ii) metaphor.
(iii) personification,
(iv) pun.