The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth

Text:

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.

Initial Reaction:

The poem is about a young girl who sings to herself while she works in the grain field. Throughout the poem, the narrator tells the readers about the beauty in the girl’s voice, and how “no Nightingale did ever chaunt” more beautifully than the girl. The narrator tells readers that if they ever have the chance to hear the girl sing, they should stop and listen, and he states that even after he had walked away from the girl, he could still hear “the music in [his] heart.”

Paraphrase:

Look at her, alone in the field,
The solitary girl in the highlands!
Harvesting and singing all alone;
Stop here, or keep walking quietly!
She cuts and binds the grain alone,
And sings a sad song;
Listen! For the deep song
Is overflowing with the sound.

A nightingale never sang
More lovely notes to tired passers
Of travelers in some dark worry,
Among Arabian sands:
No one has ever heard a voice so thrilling
From the cuckoo-bird in the spring
Cutting through the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what the song is that she sings?
Maybe the songs are sung
For old, sad things far away,
And battles of the past:
Or is it about some humble lay,
Of familiar subject matter of the day?
Or is it of some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That was there in the past, and might come up again?

Whatever the song is that the young girl sings
She sings as if the song will never end;
I saw her singing as she worked,
And over the sickles;
As I listened, I could not move;
And as I walked up the hill,
The sounds of the song was still in my heart,
Long after I could not hear it anymore.

SWIFTT:

SW: The poem is written in iambic tetrameter with a rhyme scheme of ababccdd. In addition, the poem contains multiple interjections such as “Yon solitary Highland Lass!” “Stop here, or gently pass!” and “O listen!” The interjections display the narrator’s excitement and entrancement when the young girl sings. Further, the author uses word choice to convey an earthy and slightly somber message. Earthy word choice seen throughout the poem includes “single in the field,” “grain,” “Highland,” “spring-time,” and “cuckoo-bird.” Somber word choice in the poem includes “melancholy strain,” “battles long ago,” and “natural sorrow, loss, or pain.”

I: The poem paints an earthy and pure image of a young girl singing to herself. The girl depicted in the poem was “reaping” and “[binding] the grain” as she sang to herself. The girl appears pure as she remains in solitude singing a beautiful song, but at the same time, the narrator suggests that the young girl could be singing about “old, unhappy, far-off things,” “battles long ago,” or “sorrow, loss, or pain.” Further, the readers can see earthy imagery as the author compares the girl’s singing to “a Nightingale” and a “cuckoo-bird.”

F: The poem personifies the young girl’s voice as something that had the power to “[break] the silence of the seas.”

T: The tone of the poem is admiring and somber. It is praising as the narrator praises the girl’s singing throughout the poem in lines like “A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard” and “The music in my heart I bore.” At the same time, the poem has a somber tone as the author suggests that the young girl is singing about “old, unhappy, far-off things,” “battles long ago,” or “sorrow, loss, or pain.”

T: The theme of the poem is that great beauty can be found in even the simplest of things—like a young girl’s voice. In the poem, the girl is never described to be particularly beautiful or gracious, but her singing is powerful enough to make the narrator listen “motionless and still.” Further, the author stated that not even the nightingales or cuckoo-birds could sing as beautifully as the girl. In addition, the simplistic language used in the poem in combination with the earthy images conveys the idea that loveliness and beauty can be found in simple forms.

Conclusion:

The poem is simplistic and earthy as it depicted a young girl singing to herself as she harvested the fields. Throughout the poem, the narrator describes the beautiful voice of the young girl and the impact that it has on him. The narrator even urges the readers to “Stop here, or gently pass” out of respect and admiration if they were to hear the young girl singing. At the same time, the poem contained some somber undertones as the narrator suggested that the young girl was singing about “old, unhappy, far-off things” or “battles long ago.”