The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth - Notes

The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth - Notes

(1) Annotation:

(2) Summary:

~Synopsis

-Introduction

-Recognizing the Reaper

-A Plea to the Passers-by

-Melody of the Maiden

-Searching for the Substance

-Held in the Heart

(3)About the poet

...............................

Annotation:

Behold her, single in the field,

Yon solitary Highland lass!

Reaping and singing by herself;

Stop here, or gently pass!

In the poem, the poet is actually speaking to himself or narrating his inner voices, presumably addressing the passers-by who may or may not have been there, gathering their attention towards a girl or a young woman lonely in a mountainous land in England. He found her reaping and singing alone. Then he asks them to either take a pause and listen her singing or gently pass away without disturbing her.

Alone she cuts and binds the grain,

And sings a melancholy strain;

O listen! for the vale profound

Is overflowing with the sound.

The poet is again explaining her solitude and her act of reaping as cutting and binding the grain. And simultaneously, she was singing a song which contained deep sadness or depression in it. He emphasizes them to listen to the reaper because even the great valley is filled with her song which is going even beyond it.

Summary:

Introduction:

The poet William Wordsworth was walking on mountainous lands in England where at a distance he encounters a maiden reaping and singing alone. He was moved by her voice.

Recognizing the Reaper:

In the poem, the poet is actually speaking to himself or narrating his inner voices, presumably addressing the passers-by who may or may not have been there, gathering their attention towards a girl or a young woman lonely in a mountainous land in England. He found her reaping and singing in solitude. She was cutting and binding the grain and simultaneously, she was singing a song which contained deep sadness or depression in it.

A Plea to the Passers-by:

He asks them to either take a pause and listen her singing or gently pass away without disturbing her. He emphasizes them to listen to the reaper because even the great valley is filled with her song which is going even beyond it.

Melody of the Maiden:

No Nightingale did ever chaunt

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travelers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian sands;

When a very tired group of travellers passing through the deadly deserts of Arabia take a halt at a haunt providing shade and happen to hear a nightingale singing, it will seem to welcome them immensely. The poet says that the reaper's song would welcome them to a greater extent.

A voice so thrilling ne'er heard

In springtime from the cuckoo-bird,

Breaking the silence of the seas

Among the farthest Hebrides.

One of the most pleasant things to be enjoyed during the Spring reason in England is the voice of the cuckoo which is so sweet, smooth and sharp that it seems to break through the dense silence that prevail over the seas among the group of islands belonging to Scotland. The reaper's voice caused a greater wave of emotion.

Searching for Substance:

Will no one tell me what she sings?--

Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow

For old, unhappy, far-off things,

And battles long ago;

The poet could perceive only the tune and the tone of the reaper's song. He is not able to get the wordings of her song. So, with a rhetorical question he says that nobody made him aware of what she sings. He then presents a series of guessings on the theme of her song such as it may be a song sounding sad saying something about unhappy experiences of the past happened away from the current place or battles of a very distant time.

Or is it some more humble lay,

Familiar matter of today?

Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,

That has been, and may be again?

He wonders whether it is a song with substance of a lower rank not explaining anything extraordinary but an often encountered problem of the current day, or some distress, something badly missed or, physical or mental suffering which prevailed earlier and can even occur again.

Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang

As if her song could have no ending;

The poet then concludes his guessing saying that whatever may be the theme of the young woman's song, it seemed it was never ending.

Held in the Heart:

I saw her singing at her work,

And o'er the sickle bending;

I listened, motionless and still;

When the poet saw her working, bending over the curved blade and singing, he stood still and payed heed to her song.

And, as I mounted up the hill,

The music in my heart I bore,

Long after it was heard no more.

After a while, he started to climb up the hill during the course of which the volume of the reaper's voice was diminishing. Finally, it was not heard. The poet carried the music in his heart (while initially he was carried away by her voice).

About the poet:

(1) Person's name

William Wordsworth

(2) Life period

7 April 1770-23 April 1850

(3) Nationality

English

(4) Designation

Poet

(5) Speciality

He was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850 .

(6) Period in Literature

Romantic period

(7) Notable works

1) Lyrical Ballads,Poems in Two Volumes,

2) The Excursion,

3) The Prelude