The Solitary Reaper - William Wordsworth

The Solitary Reaper:-

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?

Whatever the theme, the Maiden sang
As if her song could've 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.

- William Wordsworth

Explanation:

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.

While touring the Scottish Highlands in the company of his sister Dorothy and friend Coleridge in 1807, the poet came across, with the lonely reaper a young maiden, resident of Scottish Highlands, was alone reaping the harvest in her fields. While the reaping, she was singing in the sad strain of melody, simultaneously engrossed in cutting and binding her grains(corn). One should stop hearing her or pass gently through lest one may miss the lyrical strain by disturbing the maiden, one could listen to her sad tune of the song easily, which was echoed and reverberated in the entire deep valley, existing, nearby.

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 poet says that no nightingale did ever sang so melodiously as to please, captivate and create a soothing effect on the lacerated souls wounded, tired hearts of the tried group or parties of travellers who would take a brief stay in some shadowy place, frequently visited by them, after getting tired up by travelling in vast tracts of Arabian deserts. To them the sad song of the nightingale is most welcome, such captivating voice was never heard even from a cuckoo bird in the spring season, who would break the silence of the sea by her sweet melody even up to the distant island of Hebrides, situated on north-west coast of Scotland.

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? 

The poet asks if no one would be able to tell him as to what does she sing? What for does she sing so sad a tune? The poet feels that probably the continuous flow or the spontaneous expression of the sadness in the song pertains to unhappy remote days of the ancient past as the Celtic literature and song have a tragic bias and it indicates to a battle of Flodden field in which the highlanders met with terrible disaster(calamity). Or the song is the modest (humble) one acquainting or familiarising some subject matter of the day to day life. It relates to some natural sadness loss or pain which are common occurrences in man's life. Despite, the language of the song is not understood by the poet, he tries to follow the same by all possible guesses.

Whatever 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.

  

Whatever be the subject matter of the song of the maiden(young girl), it appeared as if her song would never come to an end. The poet saw her singing while she was working in the field i.e. cutting the grain with her sickle in a bending state. The poet heard it in a quiet and motionless state as he climbed up the hill as if he was made spellbound and full of ecstasy with its tune. The poet carried this music in his heart or it dominated his heart for long even after it was no longer heard by him.  

Most Commonly Asked Questions From the Poem:

Q.1- Why does the poet call the reaper 'Solitary'?

Ans:- The poet calls the reaper 'Solitary' beacuse she is all alone in the field, reaping the crop and singing the sad song all in the field to herself.

Q.2- Why Does the Speaker ask to stop or gently pass?

Ans:- The speakers don't want that girl get intruppted and stop singing the melodiuos song.

Q.3- In the third stanza, what do the " plaintive numbers" refer to?

Ans:- Here, the " plaintive numbers" used to refer the highland girls.

Q.4- Why does the poet compare the reaper's voice to the song of rhe cuckoo bird?

Ans:- The poet compared the reaper girl's voice to the cuckoo bird because she was singing so melodioulsy and sweetly that even the drien deserts were became like green lands.

Q.5- In the third stanza, "humble lay" stands for?

Ans:- The "humble lay" stands for songs of common man or the song about common people and things.

Q.6- What does the "weary bands" in second stanza refers to?

Ans:- Hers the "weary bands" refers to the travellers.

Q.7- How was the poet affected by the song of the Solitary Reaper?

Ans:- The sweet and melodious voice of the reaper mesmerises the conscious of the poet, although he didn't understood her song even he stood motionless and enjoyed the sweet voice of girl.

Q.8- Why is the nightingale's song a welcome song?

Ans:- The poet feels that the soothing and melodious song of the nightangale(refers to the solitary girl) in this barren and dried desert would wipe out all their tiredness, fatigue and would give them relief from their stressful journey.

Q.9- How is the poet able to hear this music even after the maiden has stopped singing?

Ans:- The song and the spellbounding voice of the girl made a ever-lasting impact in his heart, the poet carries the music as a cherished memory in his heart.

Q.10- At the end how did the poet react to the reaper's song in the poem?

Ans:- The poet was very touched by the song of the reaper even though he could not understand the language, he could understand well that it was a sad song.