The phrase "strange to tell" means that it is unusual, surprising, or extraordinary to narrate or report something. In the context of the poem "The Voice of the Rain" by Walt Whitman, it refers to the poet finding it strange that the soft-falling rain actually replies to his question about its identity. The rain’s answer, personified as "the Poem of Earth," is unexpected and remarkable to the poet
. In summary, "strange to tell" expresses the poet’s sense of wonder or amazement at receiving an answer from the rain, which is ordinarily an inanimate natural phenomenon. It highlights the unusualness of the situation being described.
