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    2022.10.17.18.49.06 1689 The Solitary Reaper Analysis

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    Shrideep Bose
    William Wordsworth's poem "The Solitary Reaper" describes his experience listening to a solitary woman singing as she reaps crops alone in a field in Scotland. The poet is deeply moved by her melancholy song, which he finds more beautiful than the songs of nightingales or cuckoos. Though he does not understand her language, he infers from the sad tone that her song expresses some past or present sorrow. The experience has a profound and long-lasting impact on the poet, as he finds the song still echoing in his heart long after he has left the field.

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    2022.10.17.18.49.06 1689 The Solitary Reaper Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Shrideep Bose
    41 views1 page
    William Wordsworth's poem "The Solitary Reaper" describes his experience listening to a solitary woman singing as she reaps crops alone in a field in Scotland. The poet is deeply moved by her melancholy song, which he finds more beautiful than the songs of nightingales or cuckoos. Though he does not understand her language, he infers from the sad tone that her song expresses some past or present sorrow. The experience has a profound and long-lasting impact on the poet, as he finds the song still echoing in his heart long after he has left the field.

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    2022.10.17.18.49.06_1689_THE_SOLITARY_REAPER_ANALYSIS

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    William Wordsworth's poem "The Solitary Reaper" describes his experience listening to a solitary woman singing as she reaps crops alone in a field in Scotland. The poet is deeply moved by her melancholy song, which he finds more beautiful than the songs of nightingales or cuckoos. Though he does not understand her language, he infers from the sad tone that her song expresses some past or present sorrow. The experience has a profound and long-lasting impact on the poet, as he finds the song still echoing in his heart long after he has left the field.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    41 views1 page

    2022.10.17.18.49.06 1689 The Solitary Reaper Analysis

    Uploaded by

    Shrideep Bose
    William Wordsworth's poem "The Solitary Reaper" describes his experience listening to a solitary woman singing as she reaps crops alone in a field in Scotland. The poet is deeply moved by her melancholy song, which he finds more beautiful than the songs of nightingales or cuckoos. Though he does not understand her language, he infers from the sad tone that her song expresses some past or present sorrow. The experience has a profound and long-lasting impact on the poet, as he finds the song still echoing in his heart long after he has left the field.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    THE SOLITARY REAPER ANALYSIS

    William Wordsworth is one of the most important English poets and a founder of the Romantic Movement of
    English literature, a style of writing that focuses on emotion and imagination. Wordsworth became known as
    a Lakeland Poet because of the area where he lived, which is renowned for its beautiful, wild landscapes, charming
    pastures, and countless lakes. He was often called a nature poet because of his emphasis on the connection
    between humans and the natural world. He became widely successful and was named Poet Laureate of England in
    1843. Explore more William Wordsworth poems. “The Solitary Reaper” is a lyrical poetry published by the nature
    poet William Wordsworth in 1907. But the poem was originally written on November 5, 1805. It is a widely read
    poem, published in the collection Poems, in Two Volumes.

    SUMMARY

    “The Solitary Reaper” by William Wordsworth is written as a recollection of an overwhelming emotional


    experience. It is about the song sung by a Solitary Reaper. ‘The Solitary Reaper’ was singing and doing her work
    without minding anyone. But, the poet was observing her, mesmerized by the song. He compares her song to that
    of Nightingale and the Cuckoo-bird, yet he states that her song is the best. Despite the poet’s inability to decipher
    the song’s meaning, he understands that it is a song of melancholy. The poet listened motionlessly until he left the
    place, but the song never left him. Even after a long time, he has come away from that place, he says, he could still
    listen. The song continued to echo in his heart long after it is heard no more. The beautiful experience left a deep
    impact and gave him a long-lasting pleasure.

    In the First stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” Wordsworth describes how the Reaper was singing all alone. During
    one of his journeys in the countryside of Scotland, he saw a Highland girl working in the field all alone. She had no
    one to help her out in the field. So she was singing to herself. She was singing without knowing that someone was
    listening to her song. The poet doesn’t want to disturb her solitude so requests the passerby’s go without
    disturbing her. She was immersed in her work of cutting and binding while singing a melancholy song. For the poet,
    he is so struck by the sad beauty of her song that the whole valley seems to overflow with its sound.In the second
    stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” the poet compares the young woman’s song with ‘Nightingale’ and ‘Cuckoo’ – the
    most celebrated birds by the writers and poets for the sweetness of voice. But, here he complains that neither
    ‘Nightingale’ nor the ‘Cuckoo’ sang a song that is as sweet as hers. He says that no nightingale has sung the song so
    soothing like that for the weary travelers. For, the song of the girl has stopped him from going about his business.
    He is utterly enchanted that he says that her voice is so thrilling and penetrable like that of the Cuckoo Bird, which
    sings to break the silence in the ‘Hebrides’ Islands. He symbolically puts forth that her voice is so melodious and
    more than that of the two birds, known for their voice.

    In the third stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” the poet depicts his plight over not understanding the theme or
    language of the poem. The poet couldn’t understand the local Scottish dialect in which the reaper was singing. So
    tries to imagine what the song might be about. Given that it is a ‘plaintive number’ and a ‘melancholy strain’ (as
    given in line 6) he speculates that her song might be about some past sorrow, pain, or loss ‘of old, unhappy things‘
    or battles fought long ago. Or perhaps, he says, it is a humbler, simpler song about some present sorrow, pain, or
    loss, a ‘matter of to-day.’ He further wonders if that is about something that has happened in the past or
    something that has reoccurred now. in the fourth stanza, the poet decides not to probe further into the theme. He
    comes to the conclusion that whatever may be the theme of her poem, it is not going to end. Not only her song
    but also her suffering sounds like a never-ending one. He stays there motionless and listened to her song quite
    some times. Even when he left and mounted up the hill he could still hear her voice coming amongst the produce,
    she was cutting and binding. Though the poet left that place, the song remained in his heart, long after he heard
    that song.

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