2. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
William Wordsworth was born April
7, 1770, in Cocker mouth, Cumberland, to
John and Anne (Cookson) Wordsworth, the
second of their five children. His father was
law agent and rent collector for Lord
Lonsdale, and the family was fairly well off.
After his mother's death in 1778 he was
sent to Hawks head Grammar School, near
Windermere; in 1787 he went up to St.
John's College, Cambridge. He enjoyed
hiking: during the "long" (i.e., summer)
vacation of 1788 he tramped around
Cumberland county; two years later went on
a walking tour of France, Switzerland, and
Germany; and in 1791, after
graduation, trekked through Wales.
3. 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.
4. • 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 listen'd, motionless
and still;
• And, as I mounted up
the hill,
• The music in my heart I
bore,
• Long after it was heard
no more.
• 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?
5. SUMMARY:
William Wordsworth's The Solitary
Reaper, a short lyrical ballad, conveys
the theme of ironic beauty of melancholy
over more positive feelings such as joy
projected through the song of a highland
lass. Composed of thirty two lines and
divided into four stanzas, the poem
describes a highland girl standing alone in
a field harvesting grain.
6. • In the first stanza, the poet indicates how the
solitary highland lass is reaping and singing a song
which is incomprehensible to the poet. The poet urges
not to disturb her in her work and her singing. He
suggests one to either watch her or gently pass from
the scene. The poet emphasises how the entire valley
is flowing with the sound of the song.
• In the second stanza, the poet is all praises for the
tune of the song. The poet is unable to understand
the language of the song but the tune is quite
expressive. The poet says that no nightingale did ever
chant in such a beautiful voice, the quality of voice of
the reaper is compared to that of the cuckoo-bird in
spring.
• In the third stanza, the poet tries to understand the
theme of the song. Given its melancholy tune, the
poet feels that the theme of the song might be of
some natural sorrow, loss or pain or of battles fought
long ago.
• Finally, the poet concludes that even if he cannot
derive the meaning of the song, he finds the tune
7. VOCABULARY:
• Highland Lass : a girl who lives in the highlands (mountain regions) of Scotland
• Reaping : cutting down and gathering a crop such as corn or rice
• Melancholy strain : sad song
• Vale profound : deep valley
• Farthest Hebrides : the most remote group of islands that lie to the north-
west of Scotland
• Plaintive : numbers: sad music
• Humble lay : ordinary song
• Sickle : a tool for cutting grass and grain crops. It has a short handle and a
