The first stanza's rhyme scheme is A-B-C-B-D-E-F-E. In other words, the words at the ends of lines 2 and 4 rhyme, and the words at the ends of lines 6 and 8 rhyme. The words at the ends of lines 1, 3, 5, and 7 do not rhyme with the words at the ends of any other lines. In this stanza, the speaker talks about how comforting and happy it is to listen to the patter of rain on one's roof.

The second stanza's rhyme scheme, like the first, is A-B-C-B-D-E-F-E. The speaker says that each sound on the roof echoes in the listener's heart, prompting lots of dreams and memories to form.

The third stanza's rhyme scheme, like the first and second, is A-B-C-B-D-E-F-E. Here, the speaker remembers his mother and how she used to look upon her children as they slept and how she would lean over them.

The fourth stanza's rhyme scheme, like the others so far, is A-B-C-B-D-E-F-E. In this stanza, the speaker reminisces about a little brother and sister of his who died, but now he imagines that they, as angels, circle his pillow.

The fifth stanza's rhyme scheme, like all of the others, is A-B-C-B-D-E-F-E. Here, the speaker remembers a former lover who was not faithful to him. He remembers how loving her brought him such pain, and his heart quickens to the sound of the rain.

The final stanza's rhyme scheme is the same as all of the others in the poem. In this last stanza, the speaker says that art cannot hope to affect us the way rain can.

A summary of "Rain on the Roof" by Coates Kinney reveals a poem lauding the healing power of Nature's rain, especially when heard from a cozy bed in a lovely cottage. The first stanza tells readers that it is pleasant to live and sleep snugly in a cottage on a rainy night. The second stanza describes how the tinkle of the rain brings dreamy fancies with bright hues of recollection. In the third stanza, the fondest memory of his mother is stirred within the speaker in all her gentle loveliness by the patter of the rain. In the fourth stanza comes the recollection of his sister and brother who died young and were raised to the state of angels. The conflict occurs and is resolved in the fifth stanza when the speaker returns to the memory of his faithless lover: he deliberately forgets that she was unfaithful as his heart vibrates to the patter of the rain. The resolution of the sixth stanza reveals the speaker's assertion that even art cannot equal the subduing strain on sorrowful passions like the patter of Nature's rain.
The rhyme scheme of the poem is ABCBDEFE. Stanzas three and six repeat exactly: "Which is played upon the shingles / By the patter of the rain."