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    Merge Theory

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    9-E PRADYOT SINHA

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    Merge Theory

    Uploaded by

    9-E PRADYOT SINHA
    11 views4 pages

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    11 views4 pages

    Merge Theory

    Uploaded by

    9-E PRADYOT SINHA

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    The Solitary Reaper

    Preface
    About the Poet
    William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a romantic poet. He wrote poetry with full of imagery,
    usually based around the natural world. His poetry is mostly subjective like other romantic poets.
    He lived during the era of French Revolution which he supported at start but became against
    later on. Some scholars advocate that relationship of Wordsworth with his sister, Dorothy was
    far from plutonic love. But Wordsworth did marry and lived with both his sister and wife. Samuel
    Coleridge, a best friend of Wordsworth, was a great poet of the romantic era. He was
    contemporary poet who accelerated his romantic vision. Both were true lovers of nature and
    they were active members of Romanticism Movement.
    Central Idea
    The poem Solitary Reaper is a pure pastoral poem written in a rustic setting. This poem reflects
    a beautiful reflection of the nature. In this poem, poet sees a Highland girl singing and cropping
    in a field. The poet was surprised by her song that was sweet than the songs of nightingale and
    cuckoo-birds. The soothing effects of the songs are much pleasurable and leave an
    unforgettable impact on mind and heart of the poet.
    Summary Part- A
    The poem opens with beautiful scene with full of imagery. First stanza of the poem reveals true
    dipiction of a pastoral/rustic setting. Being a romantic poet of the nature, Wordsworth depicts
    a beautiful picture of the nature where a Highland girl is singing and reaping in the field that
    shocks the poet and made him to stop for a while to ponder on hidden beauty and music of the
    nature. The girl is reaping the crop and singing a malencholy song. The poet’s heart throbs with
    a feelings of joy by this beautiful scene and music of the song sung by Highland girl. He does
    not like to disturb the girl and does not let her know that someone is passing by her or observing
    her so that’s why he says to the passers-by either to stop there for a while or to pass gently
    from there without making noise.The word solitary clearly explains that girl is alone in the field

     Digital www.allendigital.in [1]


    NCERT Course : Class 9
    and there is no one to disturb her. The Highland girl is cutting and binding the crop keeping
    herself busy in singing a song. This beautiful song is like a malencholy but the poet is unable to
    understand it clearly. Though poet like it very much and wants everybody to listen to it. The
    sweet music of the song is echoing in the whole valley.The song of the solitary reaper was really
    very sweet and charming.
    In second stanza, poet compares the singing of the girl with nightingales and cuckoo-birds. In
    poet’s openion, the nightingale is famous for its singing specially when tired travellers are taking
    rest in the Arabian desert at an Oasis, and enjoy the music of nightingale. Here poet wants to
    clear that the music of girl’s singing is much soothing than the nightingales. The song of the gilr
    is giving much comfort than that of nightingale. Poet clearly states that no nightingale could
    have sung so nicely as the Highland reaper sang. After making it clear that the song of the girl
    is sweet than that of nightingale, poets also makes another comparison that the songs of
    cockoo-birds are also less sweet than the song of solitary reaper. The poet says that singing of
    the girl is more thrilling than the cuckoo-birds which breaks the silence of the seas among the
    faraway Hebrides by its sweet songs. The cuckoos sing welcome songs to welcome the sailors
    in the Hebrides islands in the north east. Their songs are also very sweet like the music of the
    nightingale. But, according to the experience of the poet, the song of the solitary reaper seemed
    sweeter than the songs of the cuckoo-birds.
    Summary Part- B
    In third stanza, poet tries to explain the song sung by the solitary reaper. The poet is enjoying
    the music of the song but he is unable to comprehend the meaning of the song. Th language
    in which the girl is singing is incomprehensible for the poet but he likes it very much. The poet
    does not know the exact theme of the song but he can guess it. The poet is also curious to know
    the meaning of the song and wants somebody to tell him about the theme of the song. He
    thinks that the song is about unhappy incident of the past or of some battles in the past. The
    poet also guesses that this song may be about some familiar matter related to the life of the
    Highland girl. The poet also speculate that the song may also be about some loss, pain, or
    natural sorrow which has happened to the girl.
    The poet couldn’t understand too much about the theme of the song what she was singing. But

    whatever was the theme of the song, it affected poet’s heart deeply and he enjoyed the song

    heartily. The poet thinks that like her work, her song seemed endless and there is no end to the

    Highland girl’s singing. The poet watches her singing and using the sickle to do her work at the

    [2] www.allendigital.in  Digital


    English
    same time in the field. The poet says that he listened to her song standing quietly for a long

    time without making any kind of movement and noise. When the poet climbed up the hill, he

    says that, he still remembered the sweet music of the girl’s song. The poet also says that he will

    always remember her singing and will keep it in his heart though he could no longer hear it.

    Poetic devices used in the poem

    Rhyme scheme

    The poem’s 32 lines are equally distributed among the four stanzas. Each stanza follows the

    rhyme scheme: ABABCCDD. Use of end rhymes, such as “profound/sound”, “still/hill”, “lay/day”

    and “grain/strain” makes the poem melodious.

    Apostrophe

    The poem “The Solitary Reaper” begins with an Apostrophe “Behold” where the poet addresses

    the unknown passersby. He uses it again in the seventh line “O Listen” telling them how the

    valley is filled with the sound of her.

    Symbolism/ Metaphor

    The poet makes a symbolic comparison of the young woman’s song with Nightingale and

    Cuckoo bird for the melodious nature of her song. But it turns out to be hyperbole for he

    exaggerates that her song is better than theirs. The poet is very much captivated by her song

    that the valley is “overflowing with the sound”. Again, he says that the song looked like a never-

    ending as her sorrows.

    Rhetorical questions This poetic device is used to make a persuasive point and it helps to make

    the point clear.

    Example Wordsworth used “Will no one tell me what she sings?”, “That has been, and may

    be again?”

    “Familiar matter of to-day?” it to express his curiosity over the theme and

    meaning of the song, the girl sang.

    Imagery The imagery used in a literary work enables the readers to perceive things

    involving their five senses.

    Example “Reaping and singing by herself”, “I saw her singing at her work”

    “More welcome notes to weary bands” gives a pictorial description of the young

    woman at work. He makes the readers visualize what he has seen and how he

    felt.

     Digital www.allendigital.in [3]


    NCERT Course : Class 9
    Let’s Recall
    1. “The Solitary Reaper” is a poem by the English poet William Wordsworth.

    2. The poem was inspired by the poet’s trip to Scotland in 1803 with his sister Dorothy

    Wordsworth.

    3. It was first published in 1807.

    4. In the poem, the speaker tries—and fails—to describe the song he heard a young woman

    singing as she cuts grain in a Scottish field.

    5. The speaker does not understand the song, and he cannot tell what it was about nor can he find

    the language to describe its beauty.

    6. He finds that the traditional poetic metaphors for a beautiful song fail him.

    7. The poem thus calls, implicitly, for a new kind of poetry: one that is better able to approximate

    and describe the pure, unpretentious beauty of the reaper’s song.

    [4] www.allendigital.in  Digital

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