Solitary Reaper Class IX

8/12/2019 Solitary Reaper Class IX

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illiam ordsworth

THE SOLITARY REAPER


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William Wordsworth

(1770-1850)


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ROMANTICISM The romantic period in English literature roughly

extends from second half of the eighteenth centuryto the second half of the nineteenth century.

The main characteristics of Romantic poetry:

Poetry is the expression of personal feelings andemotions.

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.


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THE POEM


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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, 5And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the Vale profoundIs overflowing with the sound.

* * * *Behold: look at Yon: yonder, over thereHighland: mountainous region in northern Scotland

Lass: girl Melancholy: sad

Strain: melody or song Vale profound: broad, deep valley


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Behold her, single in the field,


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O listen! for the Vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.


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In the first stanza, the poet implores his listenerto stop and look at the girl who is reaping and singingby herself in the field. The poet asks the listener to

stop here or gently pass so as to not disturb thesmooth flow of the song. As she cutsand binds thegrainshe singsa melancholy strain,and the wholevalley is full of the song. The song sounds to the poet

to be a sad one.Wordsworth emphasizes the girls isolation by

using words such as single,solitary,byherself,and alone. The girl is alone but surrounded bynature. The act of reaping alone in the field binds thegirl to the earth. Also, as the girl sings and the melodyfills the lonely valley, she becomes almost completelymerged with nature.


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No Nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands 10Of 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 singingHebrides: agroup of islands to the west and northwest of Scotland


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Nightingale


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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


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The Hebrides

the Cuckoo


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In the second stanza, the poet compares the

womans song to sounds of two singing birds,

saying that hers excels those of the nightingale

and the cuckoo. The womans sound is more

welcome than any chant of the nightingale totired travelers in the Arabian desert, and that

the cuckoo-bird in spring never sang with a

voice so exciting.


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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


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In the third stanza, the speaker is utterly

charmed by the womanssong, although he cannotunderstand 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. Orperhaps, he says, it is a simpler song about some

present sorrow, pain, or loss, a matter of to-day.


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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.

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Oer: over Sickle: a farming tool with a curved, semicircular

blade, used for cutting

Sickle


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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 hadtouched 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.


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ANALYSIS


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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, andthe 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.


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IMAGERY

The poem presents a natural scene in which thereaper is situated in the centre, working alone inthe field. The two middle stanzas take us to

different geographical regions: Arabia and thefarthest Hebrides, where images of wanderingnomads under the scorching sun contrasts withthe sailors anxious to reach the land. For both

groups, the singing birds signal survival andsafety. The auditory imagery also preoccupies thepoem, represented by the reapers and birdssinging.


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FIGURES OF SPEECH

Metaphor: The poet compares the reaper with thenightingale and cuckoo respectively. He even claimsthat her song is more thrilling and more beautifulthan 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 presentand capable of understanding.


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THEMES

Imagination:

TheSolitary Reaper is about the power of theimagination 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 groundand reaping the grain. The whole valley is filledwith her song, echoing her sound. She isassociated with singing birds.

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Solitary Reaper Class IX