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The Solitary Reaper

The poem describes a solitary Highland girl reaping grain in a field and singing to herself, her melancholy song filling the surrounding vale. Though the poet does not understand the words, he compares the beauty and melancholy of her voice to that of a nightingale's song heard by weary travelers or a cuckoo's call across the seas, leaving the listener longing to understand the theme of her plaintive song. The poet is transfixed by the girl and her singing, carrying the memory of the music in his heart long after it can no longer be heard.

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1K views2 pages

The Solitary Reaper

The poem describes a solitary Highland girl reaping grain in a field and singing to herself, her melancholy song filling the surrounding vale. Though the poet does not understand the words, he compares the beauty and melancholy of her voice to that of a nightingale's song heard by weary travelers or a cuckoo's call across the seas, leaving the listener longing to understand the theme of her plaintive song. The poet is transfixed by the girl and her singing, carrying the memory of the music in his heart long after it can no longer be heard.

Uploaded by

Ilaria Dormia
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Solitary Reaper 45

William Wordsworth
Lyrical Ballads (1798)

Behold1 her, single in the field,


Yon2 solitary Highland Lass3!
Reaping4 and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
5 Alone she cuts and binds5 the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain6;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.

No Nightingale7 did ever chaunt8


10 More welcome notes to weary9 bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt10,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird,
15 Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides11.
1. Behold. Guarda, osserva.
2. Yon. Arc.: quella.
Will no one tell me what she sings? – 3. Lass. Ragazza (termine
Perhaps the plaintive numbers12 flow dialettale scozzese).
4. Reaping. Che miete.
For old, unhappy, far-off things, 5. binds. Lega.
20 And battles long ago: 6. strani. Motivo, canto.
Or is it some more humble lay13, 7. Nightingale. Usignolo.
Familiar matter of today? 8. did… chaunt. Cantò.
9. weary. Stanche,
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain, affaticate.
That has been, and may be again? 10. haunt. Luogo, rifugio.
11. Hebrides. Le Ebridi
(isole a nord-ovest della
25 Whate’er14 the theme, the Maiden15 sang Scozia).
As if her song could have no ending; 12. plaintive numbers.
Malinconici versi.
I saw her singing at her work, 13. lay. Canto.
And o’er the sickle16 bending: – 14. Whate’er. Whatever:
I listened, motionless and still; qualunque.
30 And, as I mounted up the hill, 15. Maiden. Lett.: vergine,
nubile; qui: ragazza.
The music in my heart I bore17, 16. sickle. Falce.
Long after it was heard no more. 17. bore. Portai.

text analysis
Comprehension
1. While you are reading the first stanza of the poem, make notes about:
a. the setting;
b. the characters involved;
c. the addressee;
d. the scene described.
2. Read the rest of the poem and answer the questions.
1. Does the poet know the song the girl is singing?
2. What hypotheses does he make about its content?
3. Does the poem deal with the girl’s emotion?
Structure and Style
3. Is there a fixed rhyme scheme?
4. Consider the second stanza.
1. What does Wordsworth compare the girl’s song to?
2. What kind of feelings do the two comparisons emphasise?
3. What kind of places do they introduce?
4. What effect does the poet achieve?
5. The language of the poem contains some references to the language of the senses.
Provide examples from the text.
6. How would you define the subject and the language chosen by the poet?
Writing NES
7. In not more than ten lines explain how Wordsworth’s “recollection in tranquillity” (; t63)
applies to this poem.

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