The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth

 




The Solitary Reaper

                                               - William Wordsworth

 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.


No Nightingale did ever chant

More welcome notes to weary bands

Of travellers in some shady haunt,

Among Arabian Sands;

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,

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?

Whate'er the theme, the Maiden sang

As if 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.


Source English Language and Literacy Heritage of India MP Hindi Granth Academy

About William Wordsworth

William Wordsworth was one of the founders of English Romanticism. He born on 7 April 1770 in Cockermouth, Cumberland, in the Lake District of England. He was a great advocate of using day to day language in poetry. Poetry for him was spontaneous flow of emotions. He started writing poems as a young boy when he was in his grammar school.

He was great worshipper of nature. He believed that there is a divine spirit in nature which gives joy and which can heal and teach us. According to him nature is moral teacher. He believed in the existence of connection between nature and man. He wanted to give education to the people through nature. His major focus was on nature, children, the poor and the common man. He came to light with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in collaboration with Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

He was made Poet Laureate of England in 1843 but he had writing poems till then. He remained Britain's Poet Laureate till his death in 1850.

Summary off the  Poem Solitary Reaper:

"The Solitary Reaper" is a nice recreation of the song sung by a solitary highland lass while reaping the crop with a sickle. It is a wonderful and pleasant encounter with  a girl who was singing and cutting the crop. The song is an overwhelming overflow of beauty and music. The girl is beautiful, the music of the song is beautiful, the valley is beautiful and it overflowing with her song. The author is very respectful to the girl and her song. He says that the passers by must pass silently or stop here and listen the songs silently. The author compares her song with that of a nightingale in an oasis of the Arabian sands and wth the song of cuckoo of Hebrides. Her song is much more beautiful than that of Nightingale or cuckoo. His complains that he is not able to understand what she is singing but the music is very beautiful. He guesses perhaps the song is about a battle, a loss or a pain long ago that may happen again or it is about some day today matter. The poet becomes motionless as he listens her song  but he is not able to listen to her song as he mounts up the hill but he bears that song in his memory to be heard for ever. 

This poem was composed in November 1805 and published two years later in 1807. It was based on the experiences of the poet's friend Thomas the Wilkinson

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The central idea of the poem The Solitary Reaper is that

a. well sung songs give us happiness

b. melodious sounds appeal to all

c. beautiful experiences give us life-long pleasure

d. reapers can sing like birds

Ans. c. beautiful experiences give us life-long pleasure

2. In the poem The Solitary Reaper, to whom does the poet say Stop here or gently pass ?

a. to the people cutting corn

b. to himself

c. to the people who make noise

d. to all the passers-by

Ans. d. to all the passers-by

3. The Solitary Reaper is a narrative poem set to music. This form of verse is called

a. ballad

b. soliloquy

c. monologue

d. sonnet

Ans. a. ballad

4. The poet's lament in the poem The solitary Reaper is that

a.     he cannot understand the song

b.    he did not know the lass

c.      she stopped singing at once

d.     he had to move away

Ans. a.     he cannot understand the song

5. The setting of the poem is in

a.     America

b.     Australia

c.      New Zealand  

d.    Scotland

Ans. d.    Scotland

6. The solitary reaper was

a. sowing seeds

b. watering the plants

c. reaping the harvest

d. pulling out the weeds

Ans, c. reaping the harvest

7. The singing of the solitary reaper is compared to

a.     nightingale and robin

b.     cuckoo and peacock

c.      nightingale and cuckoo

d.     cuckoo and owl

Ans. c.      nightingale and cuckoo

8. The instrument that the solitary reaper was using

a. a spade

b. an axe

c. a sickle

d. a knife

Ans. c. a sickle

9. The solitary reaper is written by

a.     William Wordsworth

b. William Shakespeare

c.       Robert Frost

d.     Thomas Campbell

Ans. a.     William Wordsworth

10. "O listen ! for the vale profound is overflowing with this sound". Who is singing here?

a. the solitary reaper

b. the poet

c. the cuckoo

d. the passers-by

Ans. a. the solitary reaper

Short Answer questions

1. How does the poet address the Solitary Reaper?

Ans. The poet addresses the solitary reaper as "highland lass" who is single in the field reaping and singing.

2. What is the solitary reaper doing?

Ans. The solitary reaper is cutting the crop and singing by herself.

3. What kind of song is she singing?

Ans. She is singing a sad song about some unhappy event long ago, a battle or a loss or a pain or it is a song of day to day matters.

4. What were the poet's first thoughts when he saw the solitary reaper?

Ans. The first thoughts of the poet about her were that she is alone in the field reaping and singing. Her song appears to the poet to be better than that of nightingale in the oasis of Arabian sands and that of a cuckoo in Hebrides.

 Match the word:

The words in column A with their meaning in column B

             A                                   B

              

1.     Solitary                      a. sadness

2.     Sorrow                       b. young girl

3.     Thrilling                     c. alone

4.     Spring                        d. a season, when nature is in full bloom

5.     Battle                         e. exciting

6.     Maiden                      f. a person who is going on a journey

7.     Traveller                   g. fight

 

Solution

            A                                   B

                                           

1.     Solitary                      c. alone

2.     Sorrow                       a. sadness

3.     Thrilling                     e. exciting

4.     Spring                        d. a season, when nature is in full bloom

5.     Battle                         g. fight

6.     Maiden                      b. young girl

7.     Traveller                   f. a person who is going on a journey

 

 

Location: Satna, Madhya Pradesh, India

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