William Wordsworth recalls his pleasant experience in a valley. However the enchanting melody makes Wordsworth’s imagination set to work. The whole valley is filled with her song, echoing her sound. The Solitary Reaper Meaning and Theme. This section contains 1,116 words (approx. The Solitary Reaper Themes & Motifs. Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen! Form-Literary ballad written in first person and can be classified as pastoral-a literary work describing a scene from country life. “The Solitary Reaper” Poem by William Wordsworth The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth . It exists in all crevices of the poetry. Title: The Solitary reaper 1 The Solitary reaper. Wordsworth has derived the sublime beauty of solitude in this poem through both nature and music. To the Romantic poets, imagination was not a synonym for fantasy. Beneficial influence of nature. Theme Of The Solitary Reaper. Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! So he started making guesses. Background of THE SOLITARY REAPER Wordsworth, his sister Dorothy, and his friend and fellow poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge had visited the Scottish Highlands in 1803. She was singing a sad song in a strange language. Print Word PDF. No Nightingale did ever chaunt. This poem fully reflects the loneliness of the poet. The use of melancholy music is intended to depict the soul of both the reaper, and also the soul of the poem. Perhaps she was singing of some old, sorrowful things of the past or battles fought long ago. Solitary Reaper is one of the finest Lyrical Ballads composed by Wordsworth. Loneliness. It was first published in 1807. Solitude ; Harmony with nature ( ) 3 Solitude. for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. This faculty enabled the poet to see familiar things in a radically different way. (a) Identify ‘she’ from the above stanza. FIRST STANZA: The poet,… The poem was inspired by the poet’s trip to Scotland in 1803 with his sister Dorothy Wordsworth. Major Themes in “The Solitary Reaper”: Everlasting beauty and sorrow are the major themes of this poem. Major Themes in “The Solitary Reaper”: Everlasting beauty and sorrow are the major themes of this poem. Literary techniques. She was singing in a hilly dialect. This poem, the Solitary Reaper is in ballad form. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS Read the following extracts and choose the correct option : 1. for the vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. Wordsworth, in particular and romantics in general, believed in the idea that one could find the entire world by looking at just one grain of sand. The music is a feature that is echoed throughout the entirety of the poem. Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain ; O listen! about the image of the poet as a halted traveller and about "the poetry of surmise" in which Wordsworth seems to have excelled. The poem presents two things; the labor of that girl and her expression of sorrow. Even the most lowly individuals can have a deep impression in an innocent mind. She is working and singing at the same time without being bothered about her surroundings. State of solitude is very important as it makes one’s soul to concentrate on his/ her elementary feelings. “The Solitary Reaper” is about the power of the imagination to transform common, everyday events into representations of a larger reality. Theme Of The Solitary Reaper 1472 Words | 6 Pages. The Solitary Reaper Stanza summaries Stanza 2 The woman's voice is compared, for instance the speaker thinks she sings like a Nightingale, which is well known for its sweet singing voice. The Solitary Reaper. He travels in poetic space far off in the deserts … The poet couldn’t understand what she was singing. The Solitary Reaper is a poem published in 1807 by the English poet William Wordsworth, a master of Romanticism in poetry. The young lady is said to be single, solitary and all by herself. Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! The Solitary Reaper Themes. Instead they saw it as closely allied with intuition and emotion. The solitary reaper was a highland (Scottish) girl. The Solitary Reaper is one of William Wordsworth’s representatives which portrays an Irish girl working and singing solitarily in a field. The Solitary Reaper poem is one of the best known lyric by English romantic poet William Wordsworth. 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. The Solitary Reaper poem belongs to the Romantic collection in which poets are trying to unite the serenity of nature and a man’s emotional world. William Wordsworth strived to write something that will unite readers with real bright emotions and inner feelings again and again. “The Solitary Reaper” is a poem by the English poet William Wordsworth. Together with “I wandered lonely as a cloud”, “The Solitary Reaper” is one of Wordsworth’s most famous poem. Romantic poet William Wordsworth’s one of the most popular lyrical poems “The Solitary Reaper” is a fine piece of ballad written in 1805 and published in 1807. 1472 Words 6 Pages. The power of human mind. Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! > The Poem Solitary Reaper by William Shakespeare taken from Shakespeare's play 'As you like it' is a poem describing the song of a solitary (alone) girl who is reaping grains. The Solitary Reaper By: William Wordsworth Stanza-Wise Explanation Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass! Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! It is the music’s haunting quality that touches the poet, forcing him to come to a stop, arousing the burning curiosity of the poet and provides him as well as the reader of the poem inexplicable consolation. The music in my heart I bore, Long after it was heard no more. By Dr Oliver Tearle ‘The Solitary Reaper’ is one of Wordsworth’s best-known poems. Themes; 2 Themes. He uses varying wording and phrasing, the lonely image of the reaper, the expanding of the lonely music, and the way of expressing his loneliness to set the lonely atmosphere. Reaping and singing by herself; Stop here, or gently pass! both the reaper, and also the soul of the poem. In the poem, the speaker tries—and fails—to describe the song he heard a young woman singing as she cuts grain in a Scottish field. (i) A traveller (iii) Solitary reaper … The Solitary Reaper, a poem which he judges to have the degree of complexity necessary for full illustration of Wordsworth's theory. The Solitary Reaper By William Wordsworth. In this poem, the Solitary Reaper, the poet William Wordsworth tells us a story about a girl (Highland Lass), which alone in the field and harvesting the crops. The Solitary Reaper: About the Poem. "The Solitary Reaper" is one of Wordsworth's most famous post-Lyrical Ballads lyrics. The Solitary Reaper Contex t: - This romantic poem is based on the sweet memories of the poet about his visit to Scotland. Free, fun, and packed with the most important details! Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen! The reaper sings in Gaelic, the language that the poet doesn’t know, thus he is unable to understand the meaning of the song. The final two lines of the Solitary Reaper focus on the theme of memory and the soothing effects of memories on someone’s thoughts and feelings. Metaphor-the singing of the reaper is compared to the singingof cuckoo and nightingale. There was no one around to assist him. This poem is more a vision than a piece of meditation as aWordsworthian lyric is apt to become. In-depth explanations of the themes found in The Solitary Reaper. 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 . >> MORAL OF THE POEM > The Poem tells us that everything in this world has a beauty about themselves. As Wordsworth always longed for human beauty that is surrounded by some natural objects, here in the poem he paints a girl singing spontaneously in Gaelic, a Celtic language, spoken in the Highlands of Scotland. Stanza 1 Stanza 3 The narrator asks the reader to 3 pages at 400 words per page) View a FREE sample. The Poem has a message that poetry should not rely on artificial diction for it's effort. The poet was fascinated by her beauty and the melody of her voice. She is working and singing at the same time without being bothered about her surroundings. According to Dorothy Wordsworth, solitary reapers were not an uncommon sight. Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain; O listen! The Solitary Reaper Symbols & Objects William Wordsworth This Study Guide consists of approximately 16 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Solitary Reaper. William Wordsworth. The poem presents two things; the labor of that girl and her expression of sorrow. Although it’s a ballad, it didn’t appear in Wordsworth’s most famous collection, Lyrical Ballads, because he wrote it after the publication of that volume (co-authored with Samuel Taylor Coleridge) in 1798.‘The Solitary Reaper’ appeared in Wordsworth’s 1807 collection Poems in Two Volumes. He came across a lovely and lonely reaper working in the fields. THEMES Imagination: “The Solitary Reaper” is about the power of the imagination to transform common, everyday events into representations of a larger reality. William Wordsworth. Ballad is a poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas. 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. Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang . for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. for the Vale profound Is overflowing with the sound. To the narrator her voice is incomparable. The same strategy he successfully implemented in his wonderful poem “The Solitary Reaper”. This Study Guide consists of approximately 16 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of The Solitary Reaper. According to the Wikipedia entry, the poem was inspired by Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy’s stay at the village of Strathyre in the parish of Balquhidder in Scotland in September 1803. The words of the reaper's song are incomprehensible to the speaker, so his attention is free to focus on the tone, expressive beauty and the blissful mood it creates in him. One needed time by oneself away from the hustle of people for introspection and self appreciation. Beauty in Simplicity.