The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth (Poem & Summary & Analysis)

 

The Solitary Reaper

by William Wordsworth

(Poem & Summary & Analysis)

  

William Wordsworth was born on 7th of April, 1770 at Cockermouth. His father was John Wordsworth and mother was Anne Cookson. He was second of the five children of his parents, the others being Richard, Dorothy, John and Christopher. He was educated at Hawkshead Grammar School and St. John College, Cambridge from where he did his B.A. in 1791. He went to France in 1791 and stayed there for a period of one year. During this time he was greatly influenced by the French Revolution which was at its peak at that time in France. He published his first volume of poems in 1793. In 1795 he got a chance to meet S.T. Coleridge and soon they became life time friends. Wordsworth along with his sister, Dorothy and S.T. Coleridge with his wife were neighbours to each other at Alfoxden and Stowey in Somerset for one year. In 1798, both the poets together published Lyrical Ballads which is considered to be an epoch-making collection of lyrical romantic poems whose preface along with the poems appearing in it attracted a lot of public attention. In 1802, he married Mary Hutchinson of Penrith. In 1805 he completed The Prelude which was published after his death on 23rd April 1850. In 1807 he moved to Rydal Mount, Grasmere and lived there till his death. In 1843 he became the Poet Laureate after the death of Robert Southey.

In France, when the French Revolution was at its peak, Wordsworth felt attracted to it. The aim of the French Revolution was to abolish the kingship and aristocracy and to give full authority to the common man. Rousseau a well-known French writer and who is also known as “the father of Romanticism”. Rousseau once said, that man is born free but he is chained everywhere. Time has come now to do away with the kingship and aristocracy. It would be best for the man to give all the powers to the common man. Wordsworth supported the purpose of the French Revolution whole-heartedly. When England prepared herself to fight against Napoleon, he went to Church and prayed there sincerely for the defeat of England, his own motherland. Throughout his life, he was unable to shed away the influence of the French Revolution and Rousseau on his poetry. From Rousseau and the French Revolution Wordsworth learnt to glorify the life of the common man. He also learnt to love and respect nature. The relation between nature and man became the main theme of his poetry. In being the poet of nature, he also became the poet of the common man.

‘The Solitary Reaper’ poem was written between 1803 and 1805 and first published in 1807. In 1815-1820 it was included among the ‘Poems of Imagination.’

The Solitary Reaper

(The Poem)

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 chaunt

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 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.

Summary

The poet is wandering aimlessly on his way when suddenly sees a highland girl alone in the field. The girl is reaping the crop and singing a song. The poet likes her singing very much. He tells the people passing from there not to disturb her in her singing. He wants the people to stop, where they are or to pass from there very quietly. There is nobody with the girl and she is cutting and binding the grain all alone. The poet observes that the song which she is singing is full of sorrow and melancholy. The girl is standing in the valley and her song is resounding through the deep valley.

The poet feels, that the girl’s song is sweeter than the song of the nightingale. The poet says that the nightingale’s song gives relief and happiness to the travelers in the Arabian deserts, when they stayed on Oasis. The poet feels the girl’s song is more thrilling than the song of the cuckoo bird.

The problem with the poet is, that he is unable to understand the girl’s song. He does not know the language in which she is singing. He wants somebody to tell him the meaning of the song. But there is nobody around to tell him. Therefore, the poet himself begun to guess the meaning or theme of the song. According to him, the song may be about some old, unhappy incidents or of battles of the past. It may also be about a matter familiar to the girl. It can also be about some natural sorrow, loss or pain which has happened to her in the past.

The poet is not worried about the theme of the girl’s song. He is still enjoying the song. It seems to the poet that the girl will not stop singing. Her song will never end. She will continue to sing forever. The poet watches the girl singing and doing her work. He stands there without making any kind of movement. He also listens to her song without making any kind of noise. He does not want to disturb the girl. When the poet went up the hill, he could not hear the girl’s song. But the poet says, that he can still hear the sweetness and melody of the song in his memory. He is sure that he will never forget it.

Analysis

In this poem Wordsworth has beautifully described the life of a countryside girl, cutting the crop while singing. He has used the language of the common man to describe the country life. The girl is working alone in the field, reaping the crop and singing a melancholy song to herself. The poet immediately feels attracted towards this beautiful song. Although he is unable to understand the language of the song but he is enjoying the music of the song. The poet loves the girl’s singing so much that he compares it with that of a nightingale and a cuckoo bird. Both these birds are well known for their singing abilities but the poet thinks that the girl was singing sweeter and better than these two birds. He does not want to disturb the girl in her singing. He is listening to the song silently while standing still. As the poet is not sure of the theme of the song, he imagines, that the song could be about some old, unhappy incidents or about the battles of the past. The song could also be about some familiar matter related to the girl’s life, or it could also be related to some natural sorrow, loss or pain which must have happened to the girl before. This shows the love of past which is a characteristic feature of the romantic poetry. The poet is not concerned about the theme. It seems to him that there is no end of the girl’s singing and she will continue to sing forever. At the end of the poem, the poet says, that he knows, he will not get a chance to listen to this song again, but he will remember her singing. It is impossible for him to forget that singing. He will always remember it.

The poem uses a straightforward language and meter as well as natural theme and imagery. Wordsworth reflected his belief in the importance of the natural world.  The poem highlights his definition of poetry to be ‘a spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings’ from the poet and the readers’ part. 32 lines of the poem are equally distributed among the four stanzas. Each stanza follows the rhyme scheme: ababccdd.

The poem “The Solitary Reaper” begins with an Apostrophe “Behold” where the poet addresses the unknown passersby. He uses it again in the seventh line “O Listen” telling them how the valley is filled with the sound of the girl.

The poet makes a symbolic comparison of the young woman’s song with Nightingale and Cuckoo bird for the melodious nature of her song. The poet says that the song looked like a never-ending as her sorrows.

The imagery used in the poem enables the readers to perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Reaping and singing by herself”, “I saw her singing at her work” and “More welcome notes to weary bands” gives a pictorial description of the young woman at work. He makes the readers visualize what he has seen and how he felt.