THE SOLITARY REAPER

TYPE OF POEM: Romantic Lyrical poem written in form of a Ballad.

THEME: Music transcends (goes beyond) all cultural boundaries and limitations of
languages. It stays on with us as it touches our soul for eternity. In a tranquil natural
setting, a dulcet music blends so magnificently and creates a resonating atmosphere which
in itself turns musical overwhelming the soul of a listener.

BACKGROUND: The poem was inspired by the poet’s trip to Scotland with his sister
Dorothy Wordsworth. Published in 1807, in this poem, the poet tries—and fails—to
describe the song he heard. It was being hummed by a young Scottish girl as she was seen
cutting grain in a field located in a valley among the Scottish highland. The speaker does
not understand the song nor could he tell what it was about. He cannot describe its beauty
but remembers the melancholic tone it carried.

WORDSWORTH AND ROMANTICISM: Wordsworth was one of the leading figures of

English Romanticism. Romanticism, in simple words, was a movement where poets tried to
evoke the relationship between man and nature, with all its natural elements. Nature was
depicted with the help of trees and animals that surround us, while natural elements
discussed the feelings that unite mankind: joy, sorrow, freedom, hope, love, fear, loneliness
and so on. Romanticism drew on feelings which were provoked by nature. For Romantic
poets, poetry was an outlet to express strong emotions felt by them while they were alone
with Nature.
In the “The Solitary Reaper” the poet recollects a powerful experience of nature via music.
He comes across a Scottish maid singing a tune unknown to him. Though he does not know
what she’s singing about, the poet tries to understand the deeper meanings behind the song.
The poem was written at a time of political and economic unrest. It took place just after the
French Revolution and in the midst of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Napoleon.
The reaper works with pre-industrial tools in a landscape unmarred by factories, mines, or
railroads. In stanza 3, the poet imagines what the reaper might be singing about, he allows
that she might be interested in politics—but only the politics of the past: battles and
catastrophes that happened long ago. The reaper is separated from the present political
and economic struggles. In contemplating her song, the speaker transforms her into
something like nature itself, who lives on through her music even after the actual song was
no longer heard.
POETIC DEVICES:
1. Metaphors: (Indirect comparison without using as or like)
● ‘In the spring time from the Cuckoo-bird’ – used as a comparison to
the maiden’s voice. The poet says that such a sweet voice was never
heard from the cuckoo even in the Spring season.
● The voice of a ‘nightingale’- Nightingale is considered as a sweet-voice
bird. The poet says no nightingale has so far sung as melodious a song
as the girl sings.
● ‘..the Vale profound is overflowing with the sound’ shows how the soft
melodious song sung by the reaper girl seems like a fluid which fills
the vast valley (appearing like a vessel) up to the brim and now
overflowing.

2. Alliteration: Among Arabian Sands

‘A’ is repeated.

3. Hyperbole: (exaggeration of facts)

● Breaking the silence of the seas among the farthest Hebrides- The
voice of the cuckoo is so sweet and penetrating that it breaks the
silence of the vast seas around the Hebrides islands to the west of
Scotland.
● O listen! For the Vale profound is overflowing with the sound – he
says that the whole deep valley is echoing with her sweet song though
she is singing very softly.

4. Rhetorical questions (Questions where the answers are not important, or are present
in the question itself. These questions are added for dramatic effect)
● Will no one tell me what she sings?
● That has may been, and may be again?

5. Imagery: The imagery used in a literary work enables the readers to perceive things
involving their five senses. In this poem, the imagery is mostly auditory as it appeals
to the reader’s sense of sound.
● O listen! For the Vale profound is overflowing with the sound
● “Reaping and singing by herself”
● “I saw her singing at her work”
● “More welcome notes to weary bands of travellers”

Other imageries are: Alone she cuts and binds the grain, And o'er the sickle
bending: These lines give a pictorial description of the young woman at work.

REFERENCES:
ARABIA AND HEBRIDES: Arabia is a historical region of the mid-east, comprising
present-day Saudi Arabia and surrounding regions. Romantic poets and painters often
invoke it in their work, using it as a symbol for distant and exotic lands. Wordsworth
emphasizes the climate, its desert terrain, and the difficulty of traveling across it—as many
traders and merchants did during the period.
Arabia is almost the opposite of the Hebrides, which are mentioned in line 16. Where
Arabia has a hot arid climate, the Hebrides, a chain of islands north of Scotland, are cold.
Where Arabia is distant and exotic, the Hebrides are much closer to home in Scotland. The
speaker spans the whole world by mentioning these two extremes and suggesting that
nowhere in the world can one find a more beautiful singer than the reaper.
NIGHTINGALE: The nightingale is a small, migratory bird native to England that
migrates to warmer countries like Arabia. It is known for its loud and beautiful
song—which it often sings at night.
CUCKOO BIRD: The cuckoo is a family of birds, which includes several common
European songbirds. Like the nightingale, they are known for the beauty of their singing.
Unlike the nightingale, they do not migrate—so they are present from the very earliest
weeks of the spring. And, fittingly, they are solitary birds, like the reaper herself.

STANZA WISE SUMMARY

Stanza One:
Behold her, single in the field, Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
Yon solitary Highland Lass! And sings a melancholy strain;
Reaping and singing by herself; O listen! for the Vale profound
Stop here, or gently pass! Is overflowing with the sound.

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 he requests the passersby to go
walk past silently without disturbing her if they wish not to stand with him and enjoy the
song. 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.

Stanza Two:
No Nightingale did ever chaunt A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
More welcome notes to weary bands In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
Of travellers in some shady haunt, Breaking the silence of the seas
Among Arabian sands: Among the farthest Hebrides.

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 their 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 ever in the past
had sung a song so soothing, like that of the reaper girl, for the weary travelers who
trudging through the hot desert of Arabia finally found an oasis to take rest. The girl song
was so refreshing that it stopped the poet from going about his business. He is so utterly
enchanted that he says that her voice is intensely thrilling and penetrating like that of the
messenger of the arrival of Spring, the Cuckoo Bird, which sings and breaks the silence
prevailing in the seas surrounding the ‘Hebrides’ Islands. He symbolically puts forth that
her voice is more melodious than that of the two birds, known for their voice.

Stanza Three:
Will no one tell me what she sings?— Or is it some more humble lay,
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow Familiar matter of to-day?
For old, unhappy, far-off things, Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
And battles long ago: That has been, and may be again?

In the third stanza of “The Solitary Reaper,” the poet depicts his helplessness for 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 he literally appeals to all in case
someone kind enough comes forward and helps him in comprehending the meaning of the
song. He tries to imagine what the song might be about. The sheer tune of the song gives
him a feeling that it is a ‘plaintive number’ and a ‘melancholy strain’ (as given in line 6)
The poet, thus, 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 such sorrowful incident that happened in the past and may reoccur in future.

Stanza Four:
Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang I listened, motionless and still;
As if her song could have no ending; And, as I mounted up the hill,
I saw her singing at her work, The music in my heart I bore,
And o'er the sickle bending;— Long after it was heard no more.

In the fourth stanza, the poet decides not to probe further into the theme. The melancholic
yet mellifluous tune of the reaper’s song had a mesmerizing effect on the poetic soul of
Wordsworth. The song seemed to hold the archetypal theme of sorrow, loss and suffering
which are an inseparable part of human existence. This made the poet believe that the song
had surpassed the barriers of time and space and become eternal. He, thus, concludes that
whatever may be the theme of her poem, it is endless. 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.