Скачать или смотреть THE SOLITARY REAPER by-William Wordsworth, Class-7th (English Medium) Summary in Description

THE SOLITARY REAPER
by-William Wordsworth

Summary:

The Solitary Reaper is a lyric poem. The speaker in the poem draws the
reader’s attention to a Scottish farm-girl singing to herself while cutting corn during harvesting. He asks the reader to stop and listen or walk away quietly without disturbing her. She is completely absorbed in her work and does not take notice of the passers-by. As she cuts and binds the grain mechanically, she also sings a soul-stirring song whose sound overflows in the valley.
The speaker tries to guess the content of the song but is more ecstatic while
listening to her song. He is as enraptured as travellers in a desert land listening to the song of a nightingale. He compares the beauty of her song to that of a
cuckoo’s song which cuts across the silence in the farthest and remotest corners of the sea. He could not make out what she was singing as she was singing in her language. He imagines that she could be singing sad songs about some ancient battles or about some sorrow, loss or pain that is natural to anyone. Whatever be the subject matter, the girl sang continuously as she reaped the harvest, as if the song had no end. He stood still for a while listening to her. And as he walked up the hill, he carried the tune in his heart long after he could hear her no more.
The poem explores the theme of a sense of spiritual emancipation being
achieved when one’s soul is united with that of nature. The reaper’s song
serves as a medium that awakens the listener’s heart to the predicament of
humanity in general. The ‘plaintive’ tune connects antique battles with the sorrows and sufferings in everyday life. The expressive beauty of the melody thus appeals to his imagination. The music makes such an indelible impression on him that he carries the memory of the melody like a precious thing, even when the music can no longer be heard any more.