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    The Solitary Reaper

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    Kalbe Wahab
    The poem describes a solitary woman reaping grain alone in a field and singing a melancholy song that fills the valley. The poet compares her song to the beautiful singing of nightingales and cuckoos. Though he does not understand the language, he imagines her song is about past sorrows or battles. Her song deeply moves the poet and the music lingers in his heart as he leaves.

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    The Solitary Reaper

    Uploaded by

    Kalbe Wahab
    681 views22 pages
    The poem describes a solitary woman reaping grain alone in a field and singing a melancholy song that fills the valley. The poet compares her song to the beautiful singing of nightingales and cuckoos. Though he does not understand the language, he imagines her song is about past sorrows or battles. Her song deeply moves the poet and the music lingers in his heart as he leaves.

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    the solitary reaper

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    The poem describes a solitary woman reaping grain alone in a field and singing a melancholy song that fills the valley. The poet compares her song to the beautiful singing of nightingales and cuckoos. Though he does not understand the language, he imagines her song is about past sorrows or battles. Her song deeply moves the poet and the music lingers in his heart as he leaves.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    681 views22 pages

    The Solitary Reaper

    Uploaded by

    Kalbe Wahab
    The poem describes a solitary woman reaping grain alone in a field and singing a melancholy song that fills the valley. The poet compares her song to the beautiful singing of nightingales and cuckoos. Though he does not understand the language, he imagines her song is about past sorrows or battles. Her song deeply moves the poet and the music lingers in his heart as he leaves.

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    You are on page 1of 22

    William Wordsworth

    THE SOLITARY REAPER

    Dr. M. Fahmy Raiyah


    William Wordsworth
    (1770-1850)
    ROMANTICISM
    The romantic period in English literature roughly
    extends from second half of the eighteenth century
    to the second half of the nineteenth century.
    The main characteristics of Romantic poetry:
     Poetry is the expression of personal feelings and
    emotions.
     Imagination is a main source of poetry.
     Nature in Romantic poetry is a living thing, a teacher
    of man, and a healing power.
     The individual is more important than the society.
    Some important Romantic poets are William
    Wordsworth, Keats, Byron, Shelley, and Coleridge.
    THE POEM
    Behold her, single in the field,
    Yon solitary Highland Lass!
    Reaping and singing by herself;
    Stop here, or gently pass!
    Alone she cuts and binds the grain, 5
    And sings a melancholy strain;
    O listen! for the Vale profound
    Is overflowing with the sound.
    * * * *
    Behold: look at Yon: yonder, over there
    Highland: mountainous region in northern Scotland
    Lass: girl Melancholy: sad
    Strain: melody or song Vale profound: broad, deep valley
    Behold her, single in the field,
    O listen! for the Vale profound
    Is overflowing with the sound.
    In the first stanza, the poet implores his listener
    to stop and look at the girl who is reaping and singing
    by herself in the field. The poet asks the listener to
    stop here or gently pass so as to not disturb the
    smooth flow of the song. As she “cuts and binds the
    grain” she “sings a melancholy strain,” and the whole
    valley is full of the song. The song sounds to the poet
    to be a sad one.
    Wordsworth emphasizes the girl’s isolation by
    using words such as “single,” “solitary,” “by herself,”
    and “alone.” The girl is alone but surrounded by
    nature. The act of reaping alone in the field binds the
    girl to the earth. Also, as the girl sings and the melody
    fills the lonely valley, she becomes almost completely
    merged with nature.
    No Nightingale did ever chaunt
    More welcome notes to weary bands 10
    Of travellers in some shady haunt,
    Among Arabian sands:

    * * * *
    Nightingale: a small singing bird
    Chaunt: chant, sing - Weary: tired
    Cuckoo: a brown or grey bird known for its melodious singing
    Hebrides: a group of islands to the west and northwest of Scotland
    Nightingale
    A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
    In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
    Breaking the silence of the seas 15
    Among the farthest Hebrides.

    * * * *
    Thrilling: exciting
    Hebrides: an island group off the coast of Scotland
    The Hebrides

    the Cuckoo
    In the second stanza, the poet compares the
    woman’s song to sounds of two singing
    birds, saying that hers excels those of the
    nightingale and the cuckoo. The woman’s sound
    is more welcome than any chant of the
    nightingale to tired travelers in the Arabian
    desert, and that the cuckoo-bird in spring never
    sang with a voice so exciting.
    Will no one tell me what she sings?—
    Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
    For old, unhappy, far-off things,
    And battles long ago: 20
    Or is it some more humble lay,
    Familiar matter of to-day?
    Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
    That has been, and may be again?
    * * * *
    Plaintive: sad, lamenting numbers: musical rhythms
    far-off: very old Humble: simple, commonplace
    lay: song
    In the third stanza, the speaker is utterly
    charmed by the woman’s song, although he cannot
    understand the language of the song and so
    cannot say what the song is about. The speaker
    tries to imagine what the song might be about.
    Because it seems sad, he guesses that her song
    might be about some “old, unhappy things,” some
    past sorrow, pain or loss. Or it may be about some
    battles fought by her people long time ago. Or
    perhaps, he says, it is a simpler song about some
    present sorrow, pain, or loss, a “matter of to-day.”
    Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang 25
    As if her song could have no ending;
    I saw her singing at her work,
    And o'er the sickle bending;—
    I listened, motionless and still;
    And, as I mounted up the hill, 30
    The music in my heart I bore,
    Long after it was heard no more.
    * * * *
    O’er: over Sickle: a farming tool with a curved, semicircular
    blade, used for cutting

    Sickle
    The poet ends the poem saying that as the
    speaker understands that whatever the reaper
    sings about, he listened “motionless and still;”
    and as he traveled up the hill, he carried her
    song with him in his heart long after he could no
    longer hear it. The beauty of the song had
    touched his heart and lingered in his
    mind, giving him joy as he traveled up the hill
    and carried her song with him long after he
    could no longer hear it.
    ANALYSIS
    FORM
    Stanzas: The poem consists of four eight-line
    stanzas. The first sets the scene, the second
    offers two bird comparisons, the third wonders
    about the content and meaning of the song, and
    the fourth describes the lasting effect of the song
    on the speaker.
    Meter: The poem is written in iambic tetrameter.
    Rhyme: The rhyme scheme is ababccdd.
    IMAGERY
    The poem presents a natural scene in which the
    reaper is situated in the centre, working alone in
    the field. The two middle stanzas take us to
    different geographical regions: Arabia and the
    farthest Hebrides, where images of wandering
    nomads under the scorching sun contrasts with
    the sailors anxious to reach the land. For both
    groups, the singing birds signal survival and
    safety. The auditory imagery also preoccupies the
    poem, represented by the reaper’s and birds’
    singing.
    FIGURES OF SPEECH
    Metaphor: The poet compares the reaper with the
    nightingale and cuckoo respectively. He even claims
    that her song is more thrilling and more beautiful
    than those of the two birds.

    Apostrophe: The poem begins with an apostrophe.


    The apostrophe is a figure of speech in which an
    imaginary person or thing is addressed as if present
    and capable of understanding.
    THEMES
    Imagination:
    “The Solitary Reaper” is about the power of the
    imagination to transform common, everyday
    events into representations of a larger reality.
    The unity of Man and Nature:
    The poem dramatizes the reaper amongst natural
    surroundings as she is bending on the ground
    and reaping the grain. The whole valley is filled
    with her song, echoing her sound. She is
    associated with singing birds.

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