Chapter 8- The Solitary Reaper

In the first Stanza, some words or phrases have been used to show that the girl working in the fields is alone. Which are those words and phrases? What effect do they create in the mind of the reader?

In the sixth line of the first Stanza, we read:

"... and sings a melancholy strain..."

This "s" sound at the beginning of sings and strain has been repeated. Poets often do this. Do you know why? Do you know what this "poetic repetition" is called? Can you find instances of this in The Solitary Reaper?

Why do you think Wordsworth has chosen the song of the nightingale and the cuckoo for comparison with the solitary reaper's song?

Read the second stanza again, in which Wordsworth compares the solitary

reaper's song with the song of the nightingale and the cuckoo. On the basis of

your reading (and your imagination), copy and complete the table below. (Work

in groups of four, then have a brief class discussion.)

The setting of the poem is__________

(i) Arabia

(ii) Hebrides

(iii) Scotland

(iv) England

The poet's lament in the poem 'The Solitary Reaper' is that __________

(i) he cannot understand the song

(ii) he did not know the lass

(iii) she stopped singing at once

(iv) he had to move away

The Solitary Reaper is a narrative poem set to music. This form of verse is called a__________.

(i) ballad

(ii) soliloquy

(iii) monologue

(iv) sonnet

In the poem 'The Solitary Reaper' to whom does the poet say 'Stop here or gently pass'?

(i) to the people cutting corn

(ii) to himself

(iii) to the people who make noise

(iv) to all the passers by

The central idea of the poem 'The Solitary Reaper' is__________.

(i) well sung songs give us happiness

(ii) melodious sounds appeal to all

(iii) beautiful experience give us life-long pleasure

(iv) reapers can sing like birds