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Rain on the Roof, Coates Kinney, Introduction to the Poet:, Coates Kinney was born in 1826 near Penn Yan, New York. He was partly educated at Antioch College,, Yellow Springs, Ohio, and was accompanied by Thomas Corwin while he studied law . ... He became a, journalist, and worked on papers in Cincinnati, Ohio, Xenia, and Springfield, Illinois., Occupation: Lawyer, politician, journalist, and ..., Born: November 24, 1826; Penn Yan, New York, Died: January 25, 1904 (aged 77), Introduction to the Poem, From the title of the Poem-‘Rain on the Roof’, we can make out that the poem is about the rain. The poet, is telling us about the memories he has of the rain. The sound of the raindrops falling on the roof of his, house brings back sweet memories of the past, Rain on the Roof Poem Explanation, Stanza 1, When the humid shadows hover, Overall 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!, Humid, Shadows, Hover, Melancholy, Bliss, Patter, Cottage chamber, , :, :, :, :, :, :, :, , something which is full of moisture., (here)moisture-laden clouds which cast a shadow on the earth., Move around something, sad, Happiness, the sound of raindrops falling on the roof., the bedroom., , Stanza 2, 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., Tinkle, shingles, echo, woof, patter, Busy being, , : short, light ringing sound, : rectangular wooden tiles used on roofs, : repeated sound, : weft, i.es the thread woven across the loom, : the sound of raindrops falling on the roof, : refers to human beings and here, the poet is referring to himself

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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., ere, dawn, list, refrain, , : old poetic word for ‘before’, : day break, : old poetic word for’ listen’, : a repeated part of a song or a poem; here, the sound of the rain, , Literary Devices in the poem, Rhyme scheme of the poem: abcbdefe, Stanza 1, Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words., ‘Humid Hover’ - ‘h’ sound is repeating., ‘starry spheres’ - ‘s’ should is repeating., ‘press pillow’- ‘p’ sound is repeating., ‘lie listening’ - ‘l’ sound is repeating., Onomatopoeia: The use of sound words to create a dramatic effect and auditory imagery., ‘Patter’ is the use of sound words. It is the sound made by the raindrops falling on the rooftop., Personification: Treating a non – living thing as a living being., darkness has been personified when he says that it is sad., Transferred Epithet: The use of an adjective with a noun when it refers to another noun., In ‘melancholy darkness’, the darkness is not melancholy, but it refers to the sad people., Stanza 2, Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words., ‘busy being’ - ‘b’ sound is repeating, ‘their thread’ - ‘th’ sound is repeating, ‘rain roof’ - ‘r’ sound is repeating, Onomatopoeia: The use of sound words to create a dramatic effect and auditory imagery., ‘tinkle’, ‘patter’ – sounds made by the raindrops, Personification: Treating a non – living thing as a living being., recollection is personified when he says that they weave dreams., Transferred Epithet: The use of an adjective with a noun when it refers to another noun., ‘dreamy fancies’ – it does not mean that the fancies are dreamy but refers to the people who have, dreams.

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Stanza 3, Alliteration: The repetition of a consonant sound in two or more consecutive words., ‘memory my mother’ - ‘m’ sound is repeating, ‘Darling dreamers’ - ‘d’ sound is repeating, Onomatopoeia: The use of sound words to create a dramatic effect and auditory imagery., ‘patter’ – sound of raindrops falling on the shingles of the roof., Rain on the Roof 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. He says that the sound of raindrops helps him fall asleep and gives him sweet dreams. He has, memories of his loving mother who would put them to sleep., Question and Answers, 1.What do the following phrases mean to you? Discuss in class., (i) humid shadows, (ii) starry spheres, (iii) what a bliss, (iv) a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start, (v) a thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof, A., (i) ‘humid shadows’ refers to the dark clouds which are full of water., (ii) ‘starry spheres’ refers to the sky at night time which is full of stars., (iii) ‘bliss’ means a blessing., (iv) ‘a thousand dreamy fancies into busy being start’ means that people start having varied sweet, dreams., (v) ‘a thousand recollections weave their air-threads into woof’ means that when people are asleep, the, memories of the past come back into their mind in the form of dreams., 2. What does the poet like to do when it rains?, A. When it rains, the poet likes to lay in bed and hear the rain falling on the roof of his room., 3. What is the single major memory that comes to the poet? Who are the “darling, dreamers” he refers to?, A. The poet has memories of his beloved mother. When he was a child, she would put him and his, siblings to bed and allowed them to sleep till late. They had sweet dreams in their sleep. “Darling, Dreamers” refers to the poet and his siblings when they were children and had sweet dreams. They were, loved by their mother and so, were her ‘darlings’., 4. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?, A. No, now the poet is not a child. He is an adult. His mother is not alive anymore., , By:, , Sir Shoaib, TGT(English), Nazareth School, Chatra