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William Wordsworth, "The Solitary Reaper"

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Mohammed Raiyah
Mohammed Raiyah

The document provides context about the Romantic poet William Wordsworth and analyzes his poem "The Solitary Reaper". It summarizes that the poem depicts a solitary Highland lass reaping grain alone in a field and singing a melancholy song that fills the valley. Though the speaker does not understand the language, he imagines it is about past sorrows or battles. The beauty of her song deeply moves the speaker and the music lingers in his heart as he leaves. The analysis examines the form, imagery, figures of speech, and themes of imagination and unity between man and nature in the poem.

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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, 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 5
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 Among the farthest Hebrides. * * * * Thrilling: exciting Hebrides: an island group off the coast of Scotland 15
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: 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? * * * * 20 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 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, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more. 25 30 * * * * 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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William Wordsworth, "The Solitary Reaper"

  • 1. William Wordsworth THE SOLITARY REAPER Dr. M. Fahmy Raiyah
  • 3. 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.
  • 5. 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, 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 5
  • 6. Behold her, single in the field,
  • 7. O listen! for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound.
  • 8. 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.
  • 9. 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
  • 11. A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides. * * * * Thrilling: exciting Hebrides: an island group off the coast of Scotland 15
  • 13. 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.
  • 14. Will no one tell me what she sings?— Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow For old, unhappy, far-off things, And battles long ago: 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? * * * * 20 Plaintive: sad, lamenting numbers: musical rhythms far-off: very old Humble: simple, commonplace lay: song
  • 15. 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.”
  • 16. Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang 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, The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more. 25 30 * * * * O’er: over Sickle: a farming tool with a curved, semicircular blade, used for cutting Sickle
  • 17. 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.
  • 19. 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.
  • 20. 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.
  • 21. 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.
  • 22. 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.