THE SOLITARY REAPER-9th STD

THE SOLITARY REAPER

1.Mention the words in the first stanza that emphasize the fact that she

is all by herself in the field?

Solitary, single, alone

2. What does the poet tell the readers to do in the first line? What

instruction does he give later?

Look at the single girl from the highlands of Scotland. He asks the

reader to stop and listen to the music or pass by gently without

disturbing the young woman in the field.

3. What is she doing in the field?

She cuts the crop from the plant and binds it for threshing the grain.

4. What does ‘melancholy strain’ refer to?

Strain refers to the music or the tune she sings which seems to have a

sad theme.

5. What adjective is used to describe the vale or the valley?

Here the valley or vale is a huge area between two very high

mountains. Since the valley is deep the song echoes throughout the

valley.

6. Why is the word ‘Vale’ capitalized?

Worsdsworth believed that connecting with nature helped man to

heal from the wounds that the violence and strife of the world

brought on him. The word ‘Vale’ is probably used to talk about the

evil and materialistic world we live in. Nature comforts and soothes

our troubled minds. He had witnessed the French revolution and its

horrors and the serenity of the highlands brought him some comfort.

The song of the girl is representative of the elements of nature that

soothe and offer solace.

7. What analogy has he used in stanza two to compare the song?

The poet refers to the song of the nightingale that soothes weary

travellers who trudge through the hot and scorching desert of Arabia.

He says that the girl’s song surpasses that of the nightingale.

8. Name the collective noun used in stanza 2./ To what does it refer?

Bands. Refers to bands of travellers.

9. What is the second comparison used in stanza 2?

The song of the girl is more melodious than that of the cuckoo who

sings to herald the onset of spring in all of Hebrides. (islands around

Scotland)

10. Explain the term ‘plaintive numbers’. The songs she sings sound like a poem (they are lyrical having a beat)

and are sad and mournful.

11. What does he ponder?

....whether her song is about ordinary things that concern her daily life

or some old memories of battles or simple things in her life.

12. What did the poet do after listening to the song?

He was enchanted by the beauty of her voice that he stood there for

some time and then continued on his journey uphill holding the music

in his heart long after it wasn’t heard. It is this memory of the song that

has inspired him to write the poem.