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Unit 3 Rain on the Roof

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SUBHABRATA PAUL
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35 views

Unit 3 Rain on the Roof

Uploaded by

SUBHABRATA PAUL
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RAIN ON THE ROOF

A. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
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!

Q1. What does the phrase "humid shadows" refer to?


Ans. The term "humid shadows" describes the rain-producing, ominous clouds.
Q2. What are 'starry spheres'?
Ans. Starry spheres are the name given to the stars that are visible at night.
Q3. Why does the poet call the darkness melancholy?
Ans. The night is dark and gloomy. Perhaps the poet is also in a despondent mood.
Q4. Where is the poet at the moment?
Ans. The poet is in his bed in his cottage.
B Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
Over all the starry spheres
What a bliss to press the pillow
And lie listening to the patter
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

Q1. What echoes in the poet's heart?


Ans. The poet's heart is filled by the sound of soothing rain on the roof.
Q2. What does the author mean by 'a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start?
Ans. This statement alludes to the different fictitious ideas and imaginations that the poet experiences.
Q3. What starts a "thousand dreamy fancies"?
Ans. One thousand daydreaming fantasies are sparked by the tinkling sound of raindrops on the roof.
Q4. What is a refrain? Find lines from the poem that form its refrain.
Ans. A refrain is the repetition of lines or whole phrases in a poem, usually at the end of a stanza. It
creates a musical effect and lends unity to a piece.

C) Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart,
And a thousand dreamy fancies
And a thousand recollections
Into busy being start
Weave their air-threads into woof
As I listen to the patter
Of the rain upon the roof

Q1. Explain 'shingles' What is tinkling on the shingles?


Ans. The roof is made up of shingles, which are small, rectangular tiles, specifically made of wood, that
are arranged in rows that cover one another. As the raindrops hit the tiles, it generates a piercing tinkle
sound.
Q2. What finds an echo in the poet's heart?
Ans. The poet's heart resonates with the sound of rain on shingles.
Q3. Who is a busy being? What happens to his mind?
Ans. The 'busy being' refers to the poet. His mind is flooded with fantasies and memories.
Q4. Explain: "A thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof'.
Ans. The warp and woof threads used in weaving a fabric are the ones that run lengthwise and across,
respectively. The poet is implying that many memories blend together to create a lovely image in his or
her memory.
D Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:
As she used in years agone,
Now in memory comes my mother,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn:
0! 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.

Q1. Whom does the poet remember?


Ans. The poet remembers his mother.
Q2. Who are the darling dreamers?
Ans. The poet and his siblings, who are sound asleep, are the sweet dreamers, the mother's beloved.
Q3. How did the poet's mother gaze at the dreamers?
Ans. The poet's mother looks lovingly at her children while they snooze.
Q4. What does he feel? Is his mother alive?
Ans. The poet longs for his mother, who passed away many years ago.
Question
Question 1. 'And the melancholy darkness gently weeps in rainy tears'. Explain the phrase
'melancholy darkness'. What does it do?
Ans. The dark clouds carrying rain are referred to as "melancholy darkness." The poet imagines that the
sky's cloud cover, which is heavy and drab, is depressing and dismal. The poet goes on to believe that
the clouds are crying and that raindrops are forming from their tears.
Question 2. What are the poet's feelings as the rain falls on the shingles?
Ans. The poet hears the tinkling sound of the rain on the shingles as it falls, and it fills his heart. His
melancholy is dispelled and his heart is filled with a million fancies and happy memories of his mother as
he listens to the patter of raindrops on the roof.

Q3. How does the sky look before the rain falls?
Ans. The air becomes humid just before it starts to rain, and huge, dark clouds start to amass in the sky.
They spread darkness and hide the stars. These foreboding, melancholy clouds, in the poet's opinion,
are dark. While the clouds-humid shadows—weep gentle tears that fall as rain, the poet interprets the
blackness as representing hopelessness and gloom.

Q9. 'Now in memory comes my mother. When does the poet remember his mother? What does it
show about him?
Ans. While the poet rests in bed in his cottage chamber and takes in the sounds of The poet cherished
his mum. When he was lying in his comfortable bed, listening to the rain, he thought about her.
He gets the impression that she was smiling at him.

Q6. When do the 'thousand dreamy fancies' begin to weave in the poet's mind? What are these
fancies?
Ans. The poet's head is overflowing with ideas and fantasies as he rests in his cosy bed in his cottage,
listening to the rain's gentle rhythm on the roof. His imagination is spun into colourful, fanciful colours by
these fantasies or imaginative concepts.

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