Very Short Answer Questions
1. What do the humid shadows refer to?
Answer: The humid shadows refer to the dark clouds.
2. What is melancholy in the poem ‘Rain on the Roof’
Answer: in this poem ‘darkness’ is melancholy.
3. What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Answer: When it rains the poet like to keep lying in his cosy bed and enjoy
listening to the patter of soft raindrops.
4. What sound do the raindrops make?
Answer: The raindrops make the sound of patter.
5. What makes an echo in the poet’s heart?
Answer: The sound of raindrops on the roof makes an echo in the poet’s
heart.
6. What do the recollections do?
Answer: The recollections weave their air-threads into woof.
7. Where do the raindrop patter?
Answer: The raindrops patter on the shingles of the roof.
8. What is the single major memory that comes to the poet?
Answer: It is the memory of his mother.
9. Is the poet, Coates Kinney, a child now?
Answer: No, he is not a child now.
10. Who are the -darling dreamers” Coates Kinney refers to in the poem
‘Rain on the Roof’?
Answer: They are all the children of the mother.
11. Is the poet’s mother still alive now?
Answer: No, his mother is not alive.
12. Give the name of the poet of the poem ‘Rain on the Roof’.
Answer: Coates Kinney.
Short Answer Type Questions
1. Describe the weather just before the rain starts.
Answer: As described by the poet, the weather before the rain is humid. It is
dark, and the starry night sky is covered by thick clouds just before it begins to
rain.
2. What does the poet want to do when it rains?
Answer: When it rains, the poet wants to lie snugly in his cosy cottage with a
soft pillow under his head. He wants to enjoy the rhythmic, soft music of the
raindrops falling on the roof.
3. According to the poet, what is nature’s mood in ‘rainy darkness’?
Answer: The poet shows the darkness to be in a melancholy or sad mood.
This sadness is further heightened when the poet shows the darkness to be
weeping and shedding tears in the form of raindrops.
4. How is the mood of the poet contrasted with the mood of darkness?
Answer: Whereas the darkness is in a sad and gloomy mood, the poet is in a
happy mood as he considers it bliss to lie comfortably in bed pressing the
head against the pillow and listening to the music made by the showers of the
rain.
5. Is the rain referred to in the poem a heavy downpour?
Answer: No, the rain referred to in the poem is not a heavy downpour.
Instead, it is soft and gentle as is obvious from the pattering sound made by it
while falling on the roof.
6. What is the impact of the tinkle of the raindrops on the poet’s heart?
Answer: The tinkle of the raindrops echo in the heart of the poet as if his
heartbeat responds to every sound of the rain by its rhythm. Moreover, the
rain kindles many memories in the poet’s mind and he gets lost in dreamy
imagination.
7. Which is the single major memory that comes to the poet?
Or
Which distinctive memory is revived in the poet’s mind?
Answer: The single major memory that comes distinctly to the poet or his
mother. The rain revives his thoughts of the time when his mother used to
look lovingly at him and his siblings before she went to sleep in her
bedchamber.
8. Who are the “darling dreamers” referred to by the poet?
Answer: The darling dreamers are the poet and his siblings. They were very
dear to their mother and they are called ‘dreamers’ because they would often
have sweet dreams in their sleep. Their mother must have always wished them
“sweet dreams” before retiring to her room.
9. Why does the poet call the sound of the rain as “refrain”?
Answer: A refrain is a line repeatedly used in a song or a poem. The drops of
rain produce a piece of distinct and continuous music by way of their
pattering. This repetitive sound of the rain is called ‘refrain’ by the poet.
10. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?
Answer: The poet is no longer a child. He has grown up and his mother is no
more alive. He thinks of his mother and his childhood with a feeling of
nostalgia which makes it clear that his mother is no more.
11. What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Answer: When it rains, the poet wants to lie on the bed in a cottage and listen
to the pitter-patter sound of the rain. The poet feels very comfortable and old
memories come back to his mind. His mind is in bliss as the memories of his
mother come to his mind.
12. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?
Answer: No, the poet is not a child. His mother is no more. But her memories
still haunt him. The poet’s mother used to look at him fondly and showed
much love and affection towards him. But now he is a grown-up man and his
mother is no more.
13. Write the central theme of the poem ‘Rain on the Roof.
Answer: The central idea or theme of the poem “Rain on the Roof’ is that the
pattering of the rain on the roof gives the poet solace and he is lost in many
fancies. He dreams of his mother, who loved him dearly. The rain provides him
with great happiness.
14. What type of dreamy fancies comes to the poet’s mind?
Answer: Old recollections appear in the poet’s mind. The memory of his
mother gives him solace. The pattering of soft rain on the roof echoes dreamy
fancies in the poet’s heart like nature’s sadness in the form of tears of rain. The
pattering of raindrops causes melody of nature which brings feelings of
happiness to the poet’s mind.
15. What did the poet dream of while listening to the rain?
Answer: While listening to the pattering of the rain, the poet dreamed of
several fancies. The poet was lost in old recollection. He dreamed of his
mother who paid attention to her children before leaving them in the
morning. The poet felt as if her mother was looking at him in a loving manner.
16. What is a ‘bliss’ for a poet in the poem?
Answer: The poet loves the rain because it carries him in old memories. He
thinks it is bliss to hear the sound of the rain on the roof. He lies in his cosy
bed and enjoys the music of nature. It is a bliss for him.
17. How is the movement before rain described in the poem?
Answer: Before the rain, the dark wet shadows of clouds come over the sky.
The stars seem to be turned into big spheres and covered under these clouds.
Suddenly it starts raining.
18. What does the patter of rain on the roof remind the poet?
Answer: The poet is deeply attached to the patter of the rain when the roof.
He seems to remember his mother. He feels the presence of his mother’s love
in the sound.
Long Answer Type Questions
1. How does the poet react to the sound of the rain falling on the roof?
Or
What is the effect of the sound of the rain on the heart and mind of the
poet?
Answer: The poet’s heart and mind react strongly to the sound of the rain
falling on the roof. He is in a blissful mood as he enjoys the comfort of his
bedroom, leisurely listening to the music of the rain. The music stirs a
corresponding echo in the heart of the poet. His heartbeat responds to the
sound of the rain by its rhythmic throbbing. He gets engrossed in fanciful,
dreamy thoughts. Moreover, the rain awakens many memories of the past.
Particularly, it revives the memory of his mother as she looked at her children
very affectionately before she went to sleep in her room. He recollects the
fond, affectionate look of his mother which she cast on him. Thus, the poet’s
mind and heart respond sensitively to the soft pattering sound of the rain
falling on the roof.
