AS ONE LISTENS TO THE RAIN

AS ONE LISTENS TO THE RAIN 

 

I. THE POEM PUT TO SONG:

 - Submitted by HARSHIT 4CME 1640106

& DARVIN RAJ P. 4PME 1640305

II. AN ANALYSIS OF THE POEM

- P. SAMUEL WESLEY

4PME 1640312

The poem is written in the first person narrative and appears to address someone. While the poem itself is open to many interpretations, one can however analyse the literary structure, themes, language, and the literary devices used. This is precisely the goal of this Section.

LITERARY DEVICES

The poet has employed several visual imageries from Nature that very adequately appeal to the senses. With a tranquil tone throughout the poem, the poet creates an ambiance of peace wherein the readers can develop their own perspectives about the poem. The poet has also used Personification as in the line, “steam rises and walks away, night unfolds and looks at me.”

Techniques like Repetition and a steady rhythm are also employed. This becomes most apparent when one studies its Literary Structure.

LITERARY STRUCTURE

As stated in the foregoing, one noticeable instance of repetition is the line “Listen to me as one listens to the rain” which is stated 5 times in the poem. It’s as though the poet implores the readers to listen to him, yet asserting the manner in which he wishes to be heard. For the sake of ease in explicating the poem’s structure, let’s separate the poem into stanzas beginning with this line. The poet however hasn’t written it in stanzas, perhaps intentionally to let it be a continuous flow of this thoughts.

Stanza 1:

The poet wishes to be heard – if not attentively, at least by not being distracted. Perhaps by “light footsteps & thin drizzle” he is alluding to the little mark we leave upon this world; and by “air that is time” to the “brevity of life.” Whatever the reader’s interpretations might be, one aspect to be noted is that, “the day is still leaving, the night is yet to come.” Thus one might infer that the setting in which the poem begins is dusk.

Stanza 2:

 

The poet gets a little esoteric at this point. Perhaps he has tried to elicit ideas stated originally in metaphysical domains of study. “Asleep with all the five senses awake” seems to refer to a mental state that has been a subject of philosophical inquiry for centuries. By saying “without listening, hear what I say,” perhaps the poet only requires the one to whom he is talking, to be aware of what he’s saying.

Stanza 3: 

Finally, “night unfolds” and the setting shifts to night-time. One possible interpretation of “steam rises and walks away” might be that it refers to the earthy aroma that rises after the rain; but for some reason it fades away and night unfolds. It is in this stanza that the poet begins to shed light on the person to whom the he is talking to. Some have interpreted this whole poem as being addressed to a woman he loves, or to a dear friend. This then leads one to ask why he/she is described as with a “face of night.” One might also ponder about the line “[you] enter my forehead, footsteps of water across my eyes.” And what if the “footsteps of water” is interpreted as tears, and “entering the forehead” is read as reminiscing?

Stanza 4:

The line, “Your fingers of air open the eyelids of time” indicates that the poet is indeed reminiscing about the past. Thus a more plausible explanation might be that all this refers to a person, whom he might have dearly loved, but who now seems to evoke a sense of ache, pain or sorrow within him. This is further supported by the last line of the second stanza where he talks about, “weightless time and heavy sorrow.”

Stanza 5: 

In this stanza alone, the poet has asked the person to hear or listen almost 5 times. Now the “years have gone by” and in recalling such moments, it is almost as if one could “hear the footsteps in the next room.” So having “listened to the footsteps of time” he still finds that these thoughts cast strange shadows over his face, perhaps a tinge of melancholy. But the mystery behind these nebulous impressions, remains locked in his poem and secured within his heart.

III. USE OF NONSENSE PHRASES IN THE POEM

- PREMKUMAR

4PME 1640313

In this article,we are going to analyse some phrases in the poem 'Listen to me as one listens to the rain' that do not make much sense, and hence are nonsense. We are going to try to understand what role these paradoxical phrases play in the poem, and try to bring out what effects the poet might have intended to bring out by their use.

First let us see some particular examples of these phrases that are used in the poem-

●     ‘Your fingers of air open eyelids of time’,

●     ‘Water that is air, air that is time’,

●     ‘Another time that is now’,

●     the use of the phrase- 'weightless time'.

Other than these four examples that appear scientifically nonsense, there are also some which are not exactly so, but are still quite interesting, like-

●     ‘You cross the street and enter my forehead’,

●     ‘your finger of flame burn my eyes’,

●     ‘you and your face of the night’,

●     and the unexpected repetition of the phrase- 'Listen to me as one listens to the rain' throughout the poem.

It appears that by using these phrases, that are either scientifically absurd, as in the case of the first set of phrases, or literarily paradoxical, as in the second case, the poet is trying to build a sense of irrationality that sometimes overtakes the mind just before one is beginning to fall asleep, when one is in a dream, or when one is delirious while suffering from some disease. So, the poet uses these phrases to explore a completely different world, which is not rational, yet can sometimes be experienced by the human mind. The entire poem appears to be a dream, in which the world, and the concepts like time and its eyelids and weightlessness necessarily do not make more sense than they normally do in the real world.

It has been hinted by several thinkers over time that human logic and rationality might not really be independent of the human mind, but its own construction. The theme of irrationality that the poet uses tries to play with this idea. The poet is describing the state of a mind when its sense of rationality has essentially been suspended. 

IV. A PICTORIAL PRESENTATION OF THE POEM

- KG VISHAL SRIVATHS

4PME 164054

- AKHIL THARAKAN

4PME 1640302

“not attentive, not distracted,”

 

“Without listening, hear what I say

With eyes inward, asleep

With all five senses awake”

 

 

“The days and years, this moment,

Weightless time and heavy sorrow”

 

 

“you and your face of night,

You and your hair, unhurried lightning”

 

 

“you cross the street and enter my forehead,

Food steps of water across my eyes”

 

“your fingers of water dampen my forehead,

Your fingers of flame burn my eyes,

Your fingers of air open eyelids of time”

 

V. AN INTERVIEW

- NAVEEN I BHADRECHA

4PME 1640309

Interview 1

Interview 2

 Interview 3

VI. COMMENTS

- LOKESH

4PME 1640312

The  senses come into play here--sight, hearing, touch ,smell-beautiful feelings of nostalgia---beautiful imagery--''figurations of mist at the turn of the corner,figurations of time at the end of this pause''. He describes her using nature and what is around him; the rain, the lightning, the waves, the air, the wet asphalt. I also like this piece because you understand what the speaker is feeling without even knowing by his description.

 

-SOMRAG G

4PME 1640315

- NEERAN NIROULA

4PME 1640310

One of the tonal effects that the alliteration in this poem is how it almost seems like a silent whisper that is being said to you as if you were listening to this poem as one listens to rain. The alliteration also keeps you attentive and makes sure you know the meaning of what is being said.

“air and water, words with no weight” (Para 16)

“What we are and are” (Para 17 )

“you are you and your body of steam,

you and your face of night,

you and your hair unhurried lightening” (Para 24-26)

VII. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

- HARSHIT

4CME 1640106

Octavio Paz Lozan born in March 31 1914 was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, and the 1990 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Paz was born in 1914 near Mexico City, into a prominent family with ties to Mexico's political, cultural, and military elite. His father served as assistant to Emiliano Zapata, the leader of a popular revolution in 1911.His family was forced into exile when their Zapatist leader was slain a few years later, and the Paz family relocated to Los Angeles, California, for a time. There Paz found increasing success for his poems and short stories in local publications. His first volume of poetry, Luna silvestre, appeared in 1933.

But Mexico figures prominently in Paz's work.One of his best-known books, The Labyrinth of Solitude, for example, is a comprehensive portrait of Mexican society.

Paz was an active critic of politics for nearly all of his career. Unlike some other leftist Latin American writers—Gabriel García Marquez, for example—Paz was not a supporter of Communist Cuban leader Fidel Castro. He also criticized Nicaragua's Sandinista guerrilla movement; Mexican demonstrations of solidarity with the Sandinista movement sometimes included the burning of an effigy of Paz. Nor was he a champion of the Zapatista uprising that fomented in a mountainous Mexican state in 1994. The writer, in both his writings and public utterances, defended his views ardently. "Revolution begins as a promise," Paz wrote, according to the New Republic.

He died on April 19 1998.His death was announced by no less than the president of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo. "This is an irreplaceable loss for contemporary thought and culture—not just for Latin America but for the entire world,".

Some of his famous works are:

1)The Labyrinth of Solitude
2)The Monkey Grammarian
3)In Light of India
4)Eagle or Sun
Some famous quotes by Octavia Paz:
1)“Deserve your dream.”
― Octavio Paz
2)“Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone.”
3)“Love is an attempt to penetrate another being, but it can only be realized if the surrender is mutual.”
4)“Beyond myself, somewhere,
I wait for my arrival.”

GROUP MEMBERS:

1. NAVEEN I BHADRECHA - 4PME 1640309

2. LOKESH - 4PME 1640308

3. P SAMUEL WESLEY - 4PME 1640312

4. NEERAN NIROULA - 4PME 1640310

5. SOMRAG G - 4PME 1640315

6. PREMKUMAR - 4PME 1640313

7. KG VISHAL SRIVATHS - 4PME 164054

8. AKHIL THARAKAN - 4PME 1640302

9. DARVIN RAJ P. - 4PME 1640305

10. HARSHIT - 4CME 1640106.