The Solitary Reaper by Wordsworth... summary & explanation
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| The Solitary Reaper |
"The Solitary Reaper" is a famous lyrical poem of Wordsworth. It is romantic in tone. It is a great composition of Wordsworth. This wonderful lyric of Wordsworth was composed in 1803 and published in 1807, When the poet went to his first Scottish tour, with his sister Dorothy and friend Coleridge. During it, he came across a sentence in Thomas Wilkinson's book entitled "Tour to the British Mountains."There was a description of a girl who was reaping the crop all alone in the field and singing a melodious song. The description of the girl impressing the poet very much. So he composed the present poem based upon that experience of a girl. In this poem, the poet expresses his imagination. The poet sees a highland girl reaping the crop all alone in the field. She is also singing a melodious song herself. There is none beside her. The poet asks his companions not to disturb her. She is cutting the crop and binding the bundles all alone. So the poet requests the passersby to stop there to enjoy her song. If they don't want to hear her song, they should go ahead silently without disturbing her.
She is singing a song full of pain. The deep valley is echoing with her sad song. The poet listens to her melancholy song with interest. The poet further says that the song of the girl is sweeter than that of the nightingale to the tired travellers in the Oasis of the Arabian deserts. The sound of the reaper is most magical. Travelling in the Arabian desert, the travellers are awfully tired. No drop of watedo they see. Then if they happen to see some cluster of trees and the sweet song of the nightingale, their happiness knows no bounds. The sweet song of the girl was more sweet and thrilling than the cuckoo's song heard in the spring season in the silent seas of the Hebrides.
The song of the nightingale is already sweet, but to Wordsworth, the song of the reaper is all the sweeter. He wanted to hear her melodious song many times. Cuckoo's song in the spring season, sung in the far-off Hebrides, disturbing the silence of the calm seas is very thrilling no doubt but that of the reaper is more so. The poet then wanted to know the theme of the reaper's song. Her language he couldn't understand since the language of the reaper's song was a Highland dialect. As there was none to tell him about the theme of the song. Then the poet started guessing about the contents of the song. It could be a sad song about the unhappy incidents or the ancient battles. The poet thinks that if the song is not about battles, maybe It is about a very common subject of everyday life or some personal loss which has taken place recently or may take place in near future.
The solitary reaper's song is so charming that It haunts the poet so much that he wants to know its meaning as well though it's an influence, without knowing it's substance, is already there. Whatever the subject matter of the melancholy song of the reaper might be, thought the poet, it seemed it would never come to an end. It seemed she would go on singing and singing. She was singing and reaping all alone. The poet listened to her song without disturbing her. When the poet left the place and walked up the hill, her song still vibrated in his heart. Even when the poet could not listen to her song, it still remained there in his heart.
The poem is a lyric successfully expressing intense personal emotions. The meter of the poem is iambic tetrameter in the first three and the last four verses of each stanza. The fourth line of each stanza is an iambic trimeter. The style of the poem is romantic. Wordsworth believes in sensation and wants to convey his ideas in a most delightful way. The poetic imagination is highly romantic. It has presented two beautiful images coloured brightly in the colours of romanticism. Thus this poem is one of the best lyrics of Wordsworth. Poet has expressed the whole feeling of his heart in this poem.
