SOLITARY REAPER

By William Wordsworth

Q1. Explicate what arrested the attention of the poet when he was
out for a walk in the countryside?

Ans While walking in the countryside, the poet heard the solitary
reaper singing. He was struck by the fact that the girl was cutting
the harvest alone and singing a melancholy song. It was so
melodious that it at once caught the poet’s attention. He found
her song sweeter than a nightingale and more thrilling than a
cuckoo bird.

Q2. Justify how the poet could hear the song of the Solitary Reaper,
when it could be heard no more?
Ans The song of the reaper had a mesmerizing effect and had left an
indelible mark on his mind. He listened to the reaper “motionless
and Still”. The song left him spellbound and the melody lingered
on in his ears even after he had mounted up the hill. He carried
the song in his heart never to forget it evermore.

Q3. What guesses does the poet make about the theme of the Solitary
Reaper’s song?
The maiden’s song enchants the poet and the melancholy strain
made him wonder at the content of the song. The solitary reaper
was singing the song in a dialect which the poet was unable to
understand but he was able to gauge from its sad note that it
probably related to some unhappy incidents, battles or
oppressions, the Scottish lass went through for her survival.
Q.4 What message does the poet wish to convey in the poem?
Ans The ‘Solitary Reaper” has a beautiful and deeper meaning. What
impresses the poet in the song is not its content but its
emotionally expressive music. It teaches us a beautiful lesson that
music knows no language and it is universal. It provides a solace to
minds of the listeners. The poem also teaches that there is beauty
in ordinary things and it can have a lasting impression too.

Q5. Discuss why the maiden’s song is compared to the song of the
nightingale and the cuckoo?
Ans. The poet describes the solitary reaper’s song, filling the deep
valleys, sweeter than the voice of a nightingale. It is more
welcoming than a nightingale’s chant heard by weary travellers
in the shady haunts of the Arabian desert. It is more thrilling
than a cuckoo bird’s song which in spring time can break the
silence of the seas.

Reference to Context
Q1. ‘Perhaps the plaintive number flow’
Ans The poet cannot understand the theme of the song as it is sung
in Gaelic language which is unknown to him. So he guesses that
the song is about the sad incidents or battles of the long past or
the common misfortunes.

Q2. ‘The music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more’.
Ans The poet could not understand the theme of the song sung by
the girl. He listened to the song motionlessly. The song seemed
 unending to him. He then left the place but carried the sweet and
sad music of the song in his heart as a source of joy forever.

Give One Word For:

1 Sounding sad and mournful. Plaintive

2 Feeling or showing extreme tiredness Weary

3 A feeling of pensive sadness Melancholy

4 A repeated rhythmic phrase, typically one Chant

shouted or sung in union by a crowd.

Synonyms :
1 Solitary Single / alone

2 Strain Song

3 Profound Deep

4 Lass Girl

5 Behold Look

6 Bore Carried