Rain on the Roof
Coates Kinney
Introduction
• ‘Rain on the Roof’ by Coates Kinney is a beautifully written lyrical poem that
presents the memories aroused in the poet’s mind by the showers falling on the tin roof.
• Through a number of metaphors, the poet shows that the drops of rain falling on the
shingles of the roof send a train of thoughts running in his mind.
• He is reminded of the way his mother used to bid him and his siblings a goodnight
and put him to bed.
• The poet connects his present with his past through the memories revived by the rain.
Theme
• The poem deals about the healing power of rain.
• The musical sound of raindrops falling on the rooftop at night has the ability to
revive sweet memories and rouse fancies in an otherwise busy mind.
• The rain thus soothes and comforts an overworked mind by taking it back to its lovely
past.
Summary
• The poem ‘Rain on the Roof’ talks about the poet’s varied reactions to the sound of
raindrops falling on the roof of his house.
• He says that the raindrops at night are like tears shed by the sad, dark night.
• He loves to lie in bed and hear rain falling on the roof of his room because it gets back
sweet memories of the past.
Poetic Devices
o Alliteration: It is the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of
adjacent or closely connected words. e.g. “lie listening”, “starry spheres”,
“humid hover”, “press pillow”, “darling dreamers” “rain roof” etc.
o Personification: It is the attribution of human characteristics to non-human
things. In the poem, melancholy darkness weeps in rainy tears. Melancholy and
tears are specific to humans but are attributed to the darkness. Again, in stanza 2,
thousand recollections weave air-threads. The weaving is also a characteristic
feature of humans but attributed to dreams.
o Onomatopoeia: It is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what
is named. e.g. patter, tinkle.
o Metaphor: It is a figure of speech that is used to make a comparison between two
things that aren’t alike but do have something in common. e.g. shadows refer to
clouds.
o Transferred Epithet: When an adjective usually used to describe one thing is
transferred to another. e.g. “melancholy darkness”, “dreamy fancies”
Q1. Reference to Context:-
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:-
a) ‘Now in memory comes my mother
As she used in years agone,
To regard the darling dreamers
Ere she left them till the dawn
Oh! 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.’
i) Which sound is the poet listening to ?
ii) What does the sound remind the poet of ?
iii) Which word in the extract means “the ability to remember things” ?
b) 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!
i) What does the phrase “humid shadows” refer to?
ii) What are “starry spheres”?
iii)Why does the poet call the darkness melancholy?
Q2. Answer the following questions in 20-30 words-
a) What is a ‘bliss’ for a poet in the poem?
b) When does the ‘thousand dream fancies’ begin to weave in the poet’s mind?
c) How does the memory of his mother haunt the poet?
d) What finds an echo in the poet’s heart and what starts weaving in his mind?
Q3. Answer the following questions in 100-120 words-
a) How is the rain a bliss for the poet? Describe
b) Describe the various sights and sounds of the falling rain and recollections it brings to the
poet.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
