the solitary reaper by william wordsworth

The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth was written in 1805, during the first generation of romantic poets,like many of his other poems, it expresses the benefits of work, solitude and

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The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth.

The romantic era, often called the age of revolutions and not just the social and economicrevolutions but also a literary revolution, the age of the romantic poet The Solitary Reaper

by William Wordsworth was written in 1805, during the first generation of romantic poets,like many of his other poems, it expresses the benefits of work, solitude and being close tonature and the countryside Wordsworth wrote many of his poems in the language of theeveryday man, he was a revolutionary and believed in the power of the people The SolitaryReaper illustrates the beauty and importance of music found in nature and the solitude of thecountryside

This poem of idyllic setting is a wonderful note of appreciation and at the same time a deepfeeling of unknown emotions for an unknown song by a reaper at solitude of thecountryside

In the first stanza the speaker comes across a beautiful girl working alone in the fields ofScotland -the Highland She is "Reaping and singing by herself." He tells the reader not tointerrupt her, and then mentions that the valley is full of song

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.

In the first stanza the scene is set of the rustic highland countryside in Great Britain,illustrating the importance of solitude and song Nature is characterized as simple and

peaceful in contrast with the harsh and black industrialised London of his time “Reapingand Singing by herself” symbolic of the solitude encountered in the countryside and thecheerful mood of a rural area, that Wordsworth believed was very important and benefitedthe everyday man Solitude and peace were often hard to find in the London of his time andeven revel lent to today’s modern worker day world Wordsworth did believe though thatthere was no place greater than England.

The second stanza is a list of things that cannot equal the beauty of the girl's singing:

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.

The second stanza offers comparisons between far off tropical places and the countryside ofEngland The speaker compared two tropical birds to the beautiful singing of the simplerustic girl, a nightingale and a cuckoo The speaker says that the sound is more welcomethan any chant of the nightingale to weary travellers in the desert, and that the cuckoo-bird

in spring never sang with a voice so thrilling Concluding that tropical places are nothingwhen compared with the simplicity and solitude found in the countryside Where music andexpressive beauty are at its best in the solitude and peace only found in the countryside

Wordsworth uses two images "word pictures" to describe how refreshing andreinvigorating it was to listen to the melodious song of "the solitary reaper."

Firstly, A group of exhausted travelers when crossing the scorching hot Arabian desert

arrive at a nearby oasis to refresh themselves As soon as they enter this cool and shady

retreat, they first hear the melodious song of the nightingale and immediately they feelrevitalized The tuneful and pleasant song of the bird drives away all their feelings ofexhaustion Similarly, Wordsworth remarks that he was also revitalized when he heard the

"melancholy strain" of 'the solitary reaper.'

Secondly, In England during the bitterly cold winter season all the birds migrate to warmer

countries in the tropics They return to England at the beginning of the spring season whichmarks the end of winter Traditionally, it is the cuckoo which first returns to England inspring and as soon as the people hear the melodious sound of the cuckoo bird they arethrilled and delighted because they know that the harsh winter season has ended TheHebrides are a group of small islands in the remote North West coast of Scotland Thewinter season in the "farthest Hebrides" was always extremely harsh and the sound of thecuckoo bird signaling the end of winter was specially significant In the same manner, thesong of the solitary reaper was special to Wordsworth

In this poem, Wordsworth uses a few literary devices to express his description so thereaders could imagine themselves listening to the soothing voice of the Scottish reaper.These include hyperboles, the use of rhetorical questions and metaphors The use ofhyperboles is seen in this sentence 'Breaking the silence of the seas, among the farthestHebrides.' It describes the voice of the reaper as one that is so loud, that it was heard miles

The use of metaphors were seen when the poet compares the voice of the reaper to otherbeautiful voices, such as those of a 'Cuckoo-bird in the spring-time' and the voice of a'nightingale' The metaphor of the Nightingale at once points to her commonness andexclusiveness It also underlines the power and purity of the voice of the lass that rouses thepoet from his reverie Like some soothing balm to weary travelers, they act as shade towanderers overcome with fatigue traversing the deserts The voice was hitherto the mostthrilling one he had heard The voice of the cuckoo-bird in the spring-time, pales incomparison Its pervading presence breaks the silence of the seas among the farthest of the

Hebrides 'Hebrides' refers to the North-Western coast of Scotland where reeds areabundant.

Rhetorical questions were seen used to show emphasis or to allow the poet to ask questionthat gives ideas about what she singing about, since he does not understand the language.However they can feel the emotion by the tone

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?

In the third stanza the poet is impatient and speculates about the content of what the maidensings, whether it be of sad unhappy things or of humbler more simple things “For old,unhappy, far of things and battles long ago” the poet is wondering whether it is a saddersong, of the bad times gone and also the hard times facing London during the romantic eratime with the industrial revolution, the blackening of the capital Or the poet wonderswhether the maiden sings of happy simpler times “or is it some more humble lay, familiarmatter of today’ which ties in with the theme the simpler peaceful times in the solitude ofthe country

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.

The final stanza the poet wonders of the effect of the song on him and any other passengers

by The beautiful rustic song the maiden sings stays in his mind and heart long after hetravelled up the hill and could no longer hear it “The music in my heart I bore, long after itwas heard no more” which in addition to the theme of solitude and beauty in music adds anidea of the familiar theme of memory, and the soothing effect of beautiful memories onhuman thoughts and feelings Wordsworth firmly believed in music and the peace and quietfound in the country

The poem is written in the first person and can be classified as a pastoral, or a literary workdescribing a scene from country life The eyewitness narration conveys the immediacy ofpersonal experience, giving the reader the impression that the poet did not merely imagine

This is an important experience for the speaker because it is transformative It istranscendent; it changes the observer, and it changes the scene It is in many ways a classicexample of a moment of Romantic artistic inspiration The speaker has to have seen workersbefore, but something in that one moment freezes him, making him call out “ Behold her,single in the field, Yon solitary Highland Lass!"The isolation of the girl makes the speaker realize his own isolation Her song makes himrealize how art (music) transforms daily labor; he does the same by capturing the girl in apoem Finally, the memory is timeless, even though the girl, the moment, the song, and theexperience are all ephemeral, trapped in time and soon passing He's living a paradox

The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth illustrates the beautiful music encountered inthe solitude of the countryside This poem praises the beauty of music and its fluidexpressive beauty; the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings that Wordsworthidentified at the heart of is poetry Wordsworth felt that the countryside was a symbol ofbeauty and that the everyday, common man should venture back to the countryside, theroots of man

First, a short summary of each stanza is provided Additional line by line explanation isalong with some of the poetic devices used is given at the end.

Please note that stanzas 1 and 3 of the poem have been composed in the present tense while stanzas 2 and 4 are composed in the past tense The summaries of the first and third stanzas are in the present tense while those of the second and fourth stanzas are in the past tense.

Stanza 1

The poet, William Wordsworth, introduces us to the subject of the poem, the solitary reaper.She is standing alone in the field, reaping and singing She sings a morose, gloomy songwhile she cuts and binds the sheaves of grain It seems to the poet as if the surroundingvalley is brimming over with the song of the reaper

Stanza 2

According to the poet, the reaper’s song surpassed, in its beauty, the sweet notes of thenightingale that welcomed tired groups of travelers into an oasis in an Arabian desert

The voice of the harvester was more breathtaking than that of the cuckoo singing in spring

in the Hebrides islands

Stanza 3

The poet, however, does not understand the words of the reaper's song He starts tospeculate on the subject of the song He thinks that perhaps it is about an ancient incidentwhich occurred in a distant land or a battle which may have taken place years ago

He further wonders, whether the song has something to do with the day to day life of thesolitary reaper He thinks that she might be singing about grief and sadness which hasoccurred and might return

Stanza 4

To the poet, it seemed that the song of the solitary reaper would not end She sang as sheworked, bending over her sickle For a long time the poet listened to the song, enchanted

and transfixed As he moved up the hill, he continued to carry the music in his heart evenafter he could no longer hear it.

Additional line by line explanation along with identification of some of the poetic devices and figures of speech used.

In lines 1 and 2, the poet, William Wordsworth has introduced us to the solitary reaper

He has added a dramatic touch with the use of the words, ‘Behold her’ He has furtherpointed out that the solitary reaper was standing alone in the field ‘Yon’ is short for

‘yonder’, a word used in old English which means ‘there’ He has referred to the reaper as a

‘Highland Lass’ Here, ‘highland’ refers to the Scottish Highlands, and ‘lass’ is a Scottishterm for a girl or a young woman

In line 3, he has told us that the young woman was reaping the corn and singing There is anelement of internal rhyming (‘reaping’ and ‘singing’)

In line 4, Wordsworth has addressed the reader He has stated that the moment was such thatone could either stand still and experience the song of the solitary reaper, or gently pass bywithout a sound

In line 5 and 6, the poet has stated that she cut and bound the grain by herself as she sang asad and sorrowful tune

In lines 7 and 8, the poet has beckoned us to listen to the song of the solitary reaper Itseemed to the poet that the entire deep valley was overflowing with the solitary reaper’ssong The poet has also used alliteration (‘sings’ and ‘strain’, line 8)

In lines 9-12, William Wordsworth has transported the reader to the Arabian Desert Here,

‘shady haunt’ refers to an oasis in the desert Bands of travelers, exhausted and drained fromtraveling over the desert, would be welcomed into the oasis by the pleasant notes of anightingale’s song The poet has stated, that the song of the solitary reaper was so beautiful,that it surpassed the song of the nightingale

Several examples of alliteration can be seen here: ‘No’ and ‘nightingale’ (line 9), ‘welcome’and ‘weary’ (line 10), ‘some’ and ‘shady’ (line 11), ‘among’ and ‘Arabian’ (line 12)

In the lines 13 to 16, the poet has talked about the spring song of the cuckoo bird TheHebrides are a group of islands off the west coast of Scotland In the spring, the cuckoobirds in these islands break into beautiful tunes The cuckoo bird’s tune appears to break thesilence and stillness of the surrounding seas Yet the voice of the young reaper is morethrilling to the poet’s ears that that of the cuckoo bird.

The poet has used alliteration (‘silence’ and ‘seas’)

In line 17, the poet has wondered aloud whether no one would tell him what the solitaryreaper was singing about The poet was unfamiliar with the language of the reaper’s songand hence he could not understand the meaning of the words

In the next few lines the poet has speculated about the possible subjects of the youngwoman’s song

In line 18, William Wordsworth has used alliteration (‘perhaps’ and ‘plaintive’)

He has conjectured that the song of the reaper may be about sad things that may haveoccurred a long time ago in some far off place (“old unhappy far off things”, line 19)

In line 20, Wordsworth has remarked that the song might also have something to do with abattle in the past

In the next few lines however, the poet has wondered whether the song was about somesimple, day to day occurrence in the life of the solitary reaper (lines 21 and 22)

The poet has used internal rhyming (‘familiar and ‘matter’, line 22)

The poet has further speculated whether the song was about some naturally occurring

“sorrow, loss or pain” that has been there in the past and may return in the future (lines 23and 24)

Regardless of what the song’s theme may have been, it seemed to Wordsworth that thesolitary reaper's song did not have an ending (lines 25 and 26)

The poet continued to observe the solitary reaper bending over her sickle and singing at herwork (lines 27-28)

The poet has used alliteration in line 27 (‘saw’ and ‘singing’)

In line 29, the poet has remarked that as he listened to the reaper’s song he was completelytransfixed by it.

In the last three lines 30, 31 and 32, the poet has stated that as he slowly walked up the hill,the music of the solitary reaper’s song continued to be in his heart long after it could not beheard anymore

In line 31, there has been use of alliteration (‘music’ and ‘my’)

William Wordsmith's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" or "Daffodils": Analysis

A BESTWORD ANALYSIS

As far as there is to mention, there is little of weight or consequence to speak of in the directanalysis of William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, or “Daffodils” as it ispopularly referred to today.  From introduction to conclusion, William Wordsworth cleanlydescribes the act of watching a patch of country daffodils swaying in the breeze and thelasting effect this pleasant image has on his quiet moments of reverie thereafter.  But,perhaps in this simple four stanza poem, William Wordsworth has, in writing “I WanderedLonely as a Cloud”,  succeeded in creating one of his greatest works of Romantic poetry by

so perfectly  actualizing the emotional virtue of Romantic poetry itself

William Wordsworth (1770 – 1850) was a Romantic poet and a major influence in bringingabout the 18th centuries’ Romantic Age of Literature.  An original poet for many differentartistic qualities, his personality and emotional intelligence had made him the perfectforefather for a literary movement that would resound philosophically and poetically to thisday.  Romanticism, defined by it predisposition towards nature and its deep emotionalconnection with the feelings of the poet, is what makes William Wordsworth’s “I WanderedLonely as a Cloud” such a perfect example of Romantic poetry

Another literary revolution realized by William Wordsworth, for the sake of anyone whowanted to read his works, was his acceptance of all forms of readership and choosing towrite in very plain English.  His writing was a movement away from those of his peers, whowrote specifically for educated aristocrats and the intellectual elites who were, at this time,

the major consumers of poetry.  Instead he wrote for the average Englishman.  The very factthat William Wordsworth’s “I Wander Lonely as a Cloud” is more popularly known as

“Daffodils” is evidence to the poem’s significantly broader circulation and distribution inareas where “Daffodils” readership was less concerned with the formality of the poem andinstead appreciated it, quite literally, for the “Daffodils”

Written at Town-end, Grasmere The Daffodils grew and still grow on the margin ofUllswater and probably may be seen to this day as beautiful in the month of March, noddingtheir golden heads beside the dancing and foaming waves  – William Wordsworth, 1804

In such a jocund company:

I gazed - and gazed - but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

And dances with the daffodils

As William Wordsworth’s narrator is walking, he notices “A host, of golden daffodils;…Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” (4 and 6).  Wordsworth goes on to describe these

“golden daffodils” as a vast plot of swaying flowers around the fringes of a bay, outdoingthe beauty of the ocean’s waves with their own golden oscillation.  Describing the daffodils

for the next several lines, Wordsworth helps us to visualize what he himself has seen andwas so moved by; “Tossing their heads in sprightly dance / The waves beside them danced;but they / Out-did the sparkling waves in glee” (12-14).  These light-hearted daffodils,weaving in unison with each other in the wind, have romantically touched Wordsworth,their natural beauty reaching him in ways that he describes as not fully understanding untillater: “A poet could not but be gay, / In such a jocund company: / I gazed - and gazed - butlittle thought / What wealth the show to me had brought:” (15-18).

It is here that your humble writer can not help but remember one of William Wordsworth’searlier poems that he had written six years earlier.  William Wordsworth’s “Lines Written inEarly Spring” (1798) serves the reader in much the same way as Wordsworth’s “I WanderedLonely as a Cloud”, in that his narrator draws inspiration from nature’s beauty to experience

a deep and meaningful emotion within himself as a philosopher and a poet.  The greatdifference, however, between Wordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring” and “IWandered Lonely as a Cloud” is that in “Lines Written in Early Spring” natures beautyinduces in Wordsworth a deep and powerful mourning for how mankind has perverted hisown nature in his then modern society, whereas “Lines Written in Early Spring” invigoratesWordsworth’s narrator with the mental imagery of the daffodils

Most importantly, in both poems Wordsworth describes his narrator as having a moment ofquiet introspection.  In much the same way that most readers can relate, Wordsworth’snarrator in “Lines Written in Early Spring”, upon having a few moments to think to himself,lapses into a depressed state from his own quiet thoughts: “While in a grove I sate reclined,/ In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts / Bring sad thoughts to the mind.” (WilliamWordsworth’s “Lines Written in Early Spring”, 1798, lines 2-4.).  In Wordsworth’s “IWandered Lonely as a Cloud” his narrator reciprocally, upon relaxing on a couch in quietcontemplation, is elated and pleasantly entertained by the thoughts of the daffodils dancing

in his memory: “when on my couch I lie / In vacant or in pensive mood, / They flash uponthat inward eye / Which is the bliss of solitude; / And then my heart with pleasure fills, /And dances with the daffodils.” (19-24) Wordsworth’s narrator in “I Wandered Lonely as a

Cloud” is not grieved by “What man has made of man” (William Wordsworth’s “LinesWritten in Early Spring”, 1798, line 8.) but contented and near-tickled by his reminiscence

of the golden, light-hearted beauty of the daffodils

A message can be so drawn from this contrast, whether William Wordsworth intended it ornot, in a Post-Modern dissection and personal interpretation of a theme that holds as muchtrue to the cannon of Romanticism as to Wordsworth’s own personal philosophy.  Perhapsthe popular title for Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, “Daffodils”, finds, initself, the virtue of the poem and its interpretive meaning.  The daffodils are, as well as whatWordsworth would have intended, natural beauty; the tranquil occurrences of luckyhappenstance that we experience and carry with us in our proverbial hearts as cherishedmoments and treasured memories.  Likely, many readers skimmed Wordsworth’sdescription of the daffodils and quickly spurned it as a “Romantic blubber” of sorts. Needless to say, however, Wordsworth believes, as does your humble writer, that anyhuman being possessing a soul and beating heart would find themselves deeply touched bythe scene of a thousand-fold host of yellow daffodils swaying in the breeze against thebackdrop of waves breaking against the rocks of a bay.  This mental image, otherwisemissed by those caught up in their daily bustle and contemporary distractions, their

“wandering lonely as clouds” so to speak, is what we draw from nature and experiencewhen we cease our self-destructive pace.  If we slow down, just enough, we may catch bythe wayside of our wanderings a spiritual creature that could serve us as a pleasant mentalimage or perhaps even as a meaning or purpose in life

In William Wordsworth’s “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud”, the daffodils become muchmore than mere flowers.  They are a symbol of natural beauty and, more importantly,symbolize living a life as rich in experience and sensation as would make a life worthliving.  They represent, in their light-hearted dance, the joy and happiness of living anadoring and fulfilling life, embracing it for every drop of nectar it could so bring. Romanticism, a poetic philosophy that Wordsworth himself engendered, finds much virtue

in this meaning; the daffodils reaching out and catching the eye of Wordsworth’s narrator,