Rain on the Roof
by Coates Kinney
Analysis
of the poem:
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The poem ‘Rain on
the Roof’ is composed by Coates Kinney, a well known American lawyer, journalist and poet.
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The poem describes
the experience of the poet associated with rain. It brings his childhood
memories back and the ones associated with his mother.
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The poem is rich
in language and possesses musical quality with the wonderful handling of sound
words. It is lyrical and rhythmic in style.
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The poem is
divided in three stanzas, each consisting an octave (stanza of 8 lines). It has
proper rhyme scheme with each alternate line rhyming. The tone of the poem is
melancholic as the poet feels sad remembering his mother who died in his
childhood.
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One is clearly
able to make out the theme of the poem that nature brings boundless bliss and
rain revives beautiful memories.
§
The impactful
description in the poem successfully makes the readers visualise the bliss of nature
and cool atmosphere of rain and respond to its beauty and melody through his
powerful imagery and skilful handling of other poetic devices.
Stanza Wise Explanation
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!
·
The poem begins describing the atmosphere during rainy season. The humid clouds have overcast the sky and hidden the stars which look like dim spheres. Then, it starts raining. It appears
to the poet that a sad woman weeps and her tears are falling in form of rain
drops. Using metaphor the poet describes rain as sad woman who is crying and shedding her tears and that's how it is raining.
·
The
poet finds it a blessing, sheer happiness to lie on his bed in the small bedroom of his cottage. He is keeping his head on
the pillow as he enjoys the musical patter of the rain upon the roof of his room. Every tinkle on the shingles.
Stanza 2
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.
Every
rain drop falling on the iron rods in his roof produces a tinkling sound and the sound
echoes in his heart. This beautiful rainy season is arousing deep emotions and bringing memories to his heart which is busy recollecting the beautiful memories just like a woof collects cotton to weave it into thread. When he listens to the patter of the rain upon his roof, it brings many
beautiful memories in his mind and he recalls beautiful moments
from his childhood, especially associated with his mother.
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.
·
When
he remembers his mother, he recalls what all his mother used to do in his childhood. He
recalls how his mother used to make the poet and his siblings sleep with all her love and affection. When
the children had slept, she would not instantly go and leave them to sleep, rather she would lovingly look at the faces of her children. That's how the mother of the poet used to shower her pure love over her children and this sacred motherly love his fondest memory. Whenever the patter of the rain showers like music upon the shingles in the roof, he recalls these beautiful memories from past, particularly his childhood.
Difficult Expressions
Humid shadows – It refers to the darkness or shadows
created by dark clouds that float in the sky upon the roof of the narrator.
When the rainy clouds float and wander in the sky, they hide the bright light
of sun and make the atmosphere hot and humid.
Starry spheres – This phrase refers to the stars
which are spherical in shape. They are covered by the clouds and look dim and
don’t shine.
What a bliss – The rainy atmosphere becomes a
blessing to the poet as it brings happiness in form of cool atmosphere,
sonorous sound of patter and recollections of memories.
Thousand dreamy fancies into busy being – this phrase conveys that due to rain the poet’s mind has become busy
recollecting the uncountable memories associated to his past. Countless
memories capture his mind and make it busy.
Weave their air threads into woof – here, the poet
wants to convey that his memories of the past make place in his mind during
rain and these memories are compared to threads that are coiled into a woof, a
bundle. Just like thread is coiled into a woof or bundle in the same way his
past memories are recollected and circulated in his mind.
Theme
Rain and cool
atmosphere brings out the theme that nature brings boundless bliss and rain
revives beautiful memories with its musical patter. Beautiful nature gives an
outlet to beautiful emotions and makes us euphoric and nostalgic.
Autobiographical Element
The poem has got an
autobiographical element as the poet Coates Kinney remembers his mother. The
rainy atmosphere brings back his childhood memories associated with his mother
who used to lovingly make him sleep and fondly look at his face.
Poetic Devices
When the humid shadows hover –
Alliteration
Over all the starry spheres –
Alliteration
What a bliss to press the pillow –
Alliteration
And lie listening to the
patter - Alliteration
Of the rain upon the roof
– Repetition
By the patter of the rain –
Repetition
And
a thousand dreamy fancies – Assonance
Every tinkle on the shingles –
Assonance
Weave their air threads into
woof – Assonance
Of
the rain upon the roof – Assonance
I feel her fond look on me –
Assonance
As I list to this refrain –
Assonance
And the melancholy darkness – Personification
Gently weeps in rainy tears – Personification
Gently weeps in rainy tears – Metaphor
What a bliss to press the pillow
– Consonance
Of the rain upon the roof – Consonance
Has
an echo in the heart – Alliteration
Into busy being start –
Alliteration
Weave
their air threads into woof – Alliteration
Now in memory comes my mother – Alliteration
To regard the darling dreamers –
Alliteration
Ere she left them till the dawn –
Alliteration
Every tinkle on the shingles – Onomatopoeia
As I listen to the patter – Onomatopoeia
By the patter of the rain – Onomatopoeia
Questions – Answers
Q1. What is the single major memory that comes to the poet? Who
are the ‘darling dreamers’?
Ans. When it rains, the single major memory that comes to the
poet is the one associated with his mother. The poet recalls thousand incidents
but major memory is of his mother. The ‘darling dreamers are the poet and his
siblings whom the mother makes lovingly sleep and the, she fondly looks at her
children’s faces.
Q2. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?
Ans. The poet is now a grown up man and he remembers the time
when he was a child as he talks about ‘years agone’. I don’t think the poet’s
mother is alive as he feels sad to think of his mother and what she used to do to
him in past. He doesn’t remember things of recent past.
Q3. What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Ans. The poet finds it a blessing to lie on his bed
in his cottage keeping his head on the pillow as he enjoys the musical patter
of the rain. Every rain drop falling on his roof produces a sound and brings
many beautiful memories to him
Q. Read the extracts given below and answer
the questions that follow:
RTC 1
When the humid
shadows hover
Over all starry spheres
And the melancholy darkness
Gently weeps in rainy tears,
1. What are the ‘humid shadows’ referred here?
2. What is the effect they have on the sky?
3. Why does the poet call darkness as a melancholy?
4. Find a word from the passage whose meaning is
same to ‘sadness’.
5. Who weeps
here?
6. Pick out a poetic device in last line.
RTC 2
Every tinkle on the
shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand recollections
And a thousand dream fancies
Into busy being start,
Weave their air threads into woof,
1. How does the poet describe the falling rain?
2. What does the mind of the poet fancy?
3. Name the poet. Where is the poet this time?
4. Trace a word from the extract that means
‘memories’.
5. What does the word 'woof' mean?
6. Pick out poetic device in first line.
Solutions
RTC 1
1. The humid shadows are the dark clouds that are
about to rain and covering the sky.
2. They hide the stars and overcast the sky making
the atmosphere completely dark.
3. Darkness is often associated with sadness. A sad
person tends to find a dark corner to hide. This dark atmosphere makes the poet
sad
4. Melancholy
5. Here rain drops are compared to the tears of a
lady who is sad and weeping. darkness is described as a lady and tears as rain
drops.
6. Personification and metaphor
RTC 2
1. The poet says that the falling of rain and
tinkling sound of rain drops creates emotional turmoil in his heart and takes
down the memory lane.
2. Old thoughts and memories are recollected by the
poet. He remembers his childhood days.
3. Coates Kinney, He lying on his bed in a room of his
house and enjoying the rain.
4. Recollections
5. A pattern or fabric woven with threads
6. Onomatopoeia (tinkle), assonance (tinkle -
shingles)
