There Will Come Soft Rains

“The house lay empty.”

This is the second line of the story, and it adds important detail to the exposition. While the opening line introduces the robotic voices, this line explains that no one is around to hear them. As the story progresses, this line is shown to be ironic: even though the humans are dead, the house is far from “empty.”

“‘Today is August 4, 2057,’ said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, ‘In the city of Allendale, California.’”

This line reveals the setting of the story. Given that the story was released in 1950, the year 2057 would have implied a distant future with unimaginable technologies. The setting of Allendale, California, by contrast, suggests a familiar place or type of place, at least to American readers.

“The rooms were acrawl with the small cleaning animals, all rubber and metal.”

Animal imagery recurs throughout the story. This line shows how even the robotic inhabitants of the house resemble animals, and it adds to the sense of activity that belies the narrator’s earlier description of the house as “empty.”