Jharkhand Board Class 9TH English Notes | RAIN ON THE ROOF
JAC Board Solution For Class 9TH English Poetry Chapter 3
COMPREHENSION
■ Read the following passage and answer the questions that
follow :―
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!
Q. (a) Name the poem from where this extract has been taken.
(b) Who has written these lines?
(c) How does the poet describe a dark cloudy night?
(d) What do the rain drops a appear to be ?
(e) How does the poet welcome and enjoy such a night?
Ans. (a) Poem- Rain On the Roof.
(b) Written by- Coates Kinney.
(c) Damp dark clouds come floating in the sky and cover
the stars.
(d) The gentle rain drops give a feeling that the unhappy
darkness is weeping and shedding tears.
(e) The poet, however, enjoy such scene. He lies down in a
cosy bed and listens to the melody of the rain falling on
the roof.
2. Every tinkle on the shingles
Has an echo in the heart;
And a thousand dreamy fancies
Into busy being start,
And thousand recollections
Weave their air-threads into woof,
As I listen to the patter
of the rain upon the roof.
Q. (a) Explain the first two lines of the above stanza.
(b) What does he mean by 'dreamy fancies'?
(c) How do the rain drops affect the poet?
Ans.(a) The rain drops falling on the tiles of the roof produce a
light ringing sound.
(b) Dreamlike images and whims.
(c) The rain drops produced a ringing sound on the roof
top. That sound creates a similar echo or repetition in
the poet's heart. He is stirred to the soul.
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.
Q. (a) Who is the poet reminded of on a wet night?
(b) Which picture of the mother comes to his mind ?
(c) What brought her to the children's room?
Ans.(a) On a dark wet night the one major memory in the poet's
mind is that of his mother.
(b) He recalls the picture of his mother coming to the
children's room to make sure that they were securely
warm and comfortable in bed.
(c) She visited the room of her sleeping children to convince
herself that they were quite comfortable in bed.
Short Answer Type Quesions
■ Answer these questions in about 30-40 words each :
Q. 1. What does the poet like to do when it rains?
Ans. The poet likes to lie on a bed with head placed on a
pillow in a warm room of a cottage. He also likes to listen to the
patter of the rain.
2. What is the single major memory that comes to the poet?
Who are the "darling dreamers" he refers to ?
Ans. The single major memory that comes to the poet is of his
late mother. He refers to the children of his mother' by the darling
dreamers' whom she loved very much.
Q. 3. Is the poet now a child? Is his mother still alive?
Ans. No, the poct is a grown up man and his mother is not
alive now. But whenever he lies, his mother comes in his dreams
and he feels like a child.
Q. 4. When you were a young child, did your mother tuck
you in, as the poet's did?
Ans. All mother are alike. They care about their children and
think about their comfort before their own. They tuck children in
the bed and make them sleep. Only then they go to bed themselves.
Yes, my mother also tucked me in when I was young.
Q.5. What does the humid shadows' mean?
Ans. The humid shadows mean about the burst water filled
clouds. They are dark and covers the starsfilled sky. So they are
called shadows.
Q.6. Where do the humid shadows hover and why?
Ans. The humid shadows i.e. the dark clouds hover over the
poet's city (house) in the sky. They hover as they are waiting for
the right time to rain down.
Q. 7. What happens when it rains outside?
Ans. When it rains outside, the person inside feels himself
blessed and happy. He starts recollecting his memories and soon
falls asleep. He dreams about good things.
Q.8. What does the mother do in the poet's dreams?
Ans. In the poet's dream, the mother does what she used to do
in reality. She tucks them in the bed makes them sleep and looks
after them while they dream.
Q. 9. When does the mother leave the darling dreamers?
And till when?
Ans. The mother comes at the beginning of the night and
leaves them after loving them and making them sleep. She goes
away leaving them till the dawn.
Q.10. How does the poet describe the moment just before it
starts raining?
Ans. Just before it starts raining, the dark wet shadows of
clouds hover over the sky. The stars become spheres and are covered
under these clouds. The darkness looks sad. Then it starts raining.
Q.11. What is the central idea of the poem?
Ans. The poem expresses the practical truth that rain is good
if it is on the roof. Then it gives pleasures, dreams and memories
and it is a bliss.
Q.12. What thoughts flash through the poet's mind when it
rains?
Ans. When it rains, the tinkle has an echo in the poet's heart.
He experiences many dreamy fancies in his heart. His heart is
filled with a thousand memories. These memories are like a weft of
a cloth to be woven.
Q. 13. What does the poet dream of when he listens to the
patter of the rain ?
Ans. The poet fancies about his mother when he listens to the
patter of the rain on the roof. He feels how she loved sweet dreams
during the night till the dawn.
Q. 14. How does the poet describe the falling of the rain like
'music'?
Ans. The poet describes the falling of the rain like 'music'
through the phrase: 'As I list to this refrain'. He also describes it in
"And lie listening to the patter'. The pattering rain is like the effect
of music which is pleasing to the ears.
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