Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
Rain on the Tin Roof
At six the sky above our town turns grey,
and the first big drops come down, slow and few:
plink on the tin, then plonk, then plink again,
until the roof is drumming through and through.
The fan slows down; the lights go out next door,
and then our own. Ma strikes a single match.
The lantern shows our faces, gold and still,
while the wind keeps tugging at the window latch.
Our phones are dead; the TV screen is black.
No one will hear the cricket score tonight.
For once the house forgets its little screens
and sits together in one ring of light.
Dadaji tells the story of the flood,
the year the river came up to our door;
the roof keeps time above him all the while,
and we have heard it twenty times before.
By ten the roar has softened to a hum
that lulls my little sister where she lies.
The lights come on again. Nobody moves.
We listen to the rain with half-closed eyes.
What does the phrase “keeps time” mean in the line “the roof keeps time above him all the while”?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → beats out a steady rhythm
To keep time means to beat a steady rhythm, as a drummer does for a song.
- Earlier the roof is “drumming through and through” with the rain.
- While Dadaji talks, the rain goes on beating on the tin “all the while”, like a steady beat behind his story. Example: Arjun tapped his foot to keep time with the music.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: shows the correct hour like a clock — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: A clock that “keeps good time” shows the right hour. A roof cannot show the time.
Option 3: stays strong for many years — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: Keeping time is about a steady beat, not about lasting a long time.
Option 4: waits patiently for the story to end — Incorrect. Wrong meaning: The roof is not waiting. It is drumming with the rain all through the story.