Welcome back to our online classes. Today we are going to begin a new poem the solitary reaper written by William Wordsworth who was considered as one of the most famous romantic poets of English literature. Now first of all let us see what do we mean by the word solitary reaper. So solitary means lonely or someone who is alone.
And the word Reaper is the person actually who harvests the crop which means one who cuts the crop in the field once it is ripe. So this poem is about a lonely reaper who is cutting the crop in the field. It is in the form of a ballet. Now what do you mean by ballet?
Ballet is a poem which narrates a short story. Now it could be a short story about a war or it could be about an ancient story or it could be... about bravery of a soldier or anything but it should be in the form of a poem then only we can call it a ballet so the poet here has narrated a story in a poetic form where he actually describes a girl her song and its impact on his mind through this poem the poet wants to say that often some beautiful moments can give you happiness and uplift your mood for a lifetime It often happens even with you. If you like a song, then it keeps on running in your mind, isn't it? Similarly, the song of this girl also kept running in our author's mind for quite some time.
So now, let us move on and read a short introduction to the author. Born on 7th April 1770 in Cockismouth, England, Wordsworth focused on nature, children, the poor, common people and used very ordinary words to express his feelings. He was considered as a major English Romantic poet who helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature. He has written lots of poems which are still read today and he passed away on 23rd April 1850. So now let's move on to the poem and its explanations.
Now children, first of all, I'll explain you the words given in each line and then I'll explain you the stanza on a whole. Behold her, single in the field, yon solitary highland lass. So behold over here means to see or to look. So the poet here is involving his readers and asking the readers to look at this girl. Look at this girl who is walking, single in the field.
field single in the field means who is working alone in the field yawn solitary yawn means there it is a very old english term which we don't use now it was used in the sixperean era okay solitary means alone again highland means mountain or hilly areas and last means a girl so here the poet is saying that look there at the girl who lives in the highland of Scotland who lives in the mountains or hilly regions of Scotland reaping and singing herself. So what is the girl doing? She is now reaping.
Okay reaping here means cutting down and gathering a crop such as corn or rice. So the girl is cutting the crops and singing a song on her own. Then the poet says stop there or gently pass.
So the poet is telling his readers to Actually, he is instructing the readers that either you stop and listen to her song quietly or go away from here silently without disturbing the girl. Then he says, alone she cuts and binds the grain and sings a melancholy strain. So alone she is cutting the crops and she is tying them together.
And she is singing a melancholy strain. Melancholy means sad. Strain means a song.
So the girl is cutting the crop and gathering them and is singing a very sad song. Then he says, oh listen for the veil profound is overflowing with the sound. So now he is asking the readers to listen to her song. Why?
Because her song. can be easily heard as the whole valley is now filled with her song you can hear her song echoing in the entire valley so in this stance The poet is talking to the readers and asking them to look at the girl who is from the hilly areas of Scotland. The poet in fact instructs the readers to stop and listen to her or walk away quietly without disturbing the girl.
What is the girl doing? The girl is cutting and gathering the grains and is singing a very sad song and the poet is asking the readers to listen as the deep valley is overflowing with her music. Now children, let's move on to the second stanza. No nightingale did ever shant more welcome notes to weary bands Of travellers in some shady haunt among Arabian sands A voice so thrilling never was heard in springtime from the cuckoo bird Breaking the silence of the seas among the farthest hybridies so children first of all let us go through the meanings of some difficult words in this stanza so chant means sing welcome note means pleasing sound which is liked by the listener now weary means tired band means the group of people so here the poet is referring to a tired group of travelers okay shady again means a roofed shelter so a place to rest all right And haunt is a place which is frequently visited by someone. So here the someone are the travelers who are traveling through the Arabian deserts.
So here in these lines, the poet is talking about the roofed shelters which are frequently visited by the travelers. Now Arabian sands means the Arabian deserts of the Middle East countries. Thrilling means exciting. Farthest again means far away or very remote.
And Hebrides means the place where the people are living. is the most remote group of island that lies in the north west of scotland now if you go through your map hebrides is almost near to the north pole where people are very less as it is extremely cold there okay now let us see the first two lines of this stanza no nightingale did ever shunt more welcome notes to weary bands so a nightingale is a singing bird So here the poet says that no nightingale has ever sang till now such a beautiful and melodious song like this girl. This nightingale you know sings soothing notes to the tired group of travelers when they rest in these shady haunts like oasis in the Arabian deserts.
Now but the song sung by this nightingale are not so melodious as the reaper song. So here the poet is comparing the song of the reaper to a nightingale which pleases the tired travelers. A voice so thrilling never was heard in springtime from the cuckoo bird breaking the silence of the seas among the farthest hybridies.
So cuckoo bird is also a singing bird which sings when winter ends and the spring season begins in the island of hybridies. So with the onset of spring The cuckoo bird sings and it could be heard farther away in the ocean. But in this stanza, the poet says that although the nightingale and the cuckoo bird sings beautifully, but the song of the reaper is much more melodious than theirs. Now let's move on to the third stanza.
Will no one tell me what she sings? Perhaps the plaintive number flows. So plaintive numbers over here means sad music. for old unhappy far of things and battles long ago so far of things means the past events maybe her song relates to some past events or battles that were fought in that particular place or is it some more humble humble means a ordinary song familiar matter of today some natural sorrow loss or pain that has been and maybe again So in this stanza, the poet is asking that is there no one who could tell me the meaning of the song which this solitary reaper is singing? So with this, we also understand the poet is unable to recognize what she is singing.
Okay, so now the poet is trying to guess that maybe the reaper is unhappy because of something that has happened in her past or she has lost someone very dear in a battle or war or maybe this song is an ordinary song related to our daily lives that or it is because of the loss of a dear one or some pain that she must be going through every day in her life so the poet is just guessing why she is singing this What could be the possible reason for that? From this stanza, we also come to know that although the poet is not able to understand the language of the song, yet he is enjoying it because the solitary reaper's voice is very melodious and sweet and she is singing it beautifully. So I hope children you understood the third stanza.
Let's move on to the fourth stanza now. Whatever the theme the maiden sang as if her song could have no ending so children theme here means the topic of the song and maiden means the girl or the solitary reaper so the poet says that whatever might be the topic of the song but i think her song would never end because she is singing endlessly i saw her singing at her work so the solitary reaper is doing her work at the same time she is singing quietly in her own tune and over the sickle bending i listen motionless and still so sickle means a tool for cutting grass and crops it has a short handle as you can see in the picture over here children and it has a blade which is shaped like a hook so the solitary reaper is cutting the grain crops with the sickle in her hand and singing her sad yet melodious song continuously And as I mounted up the hill, mounted means climbed, and the music in my heart I bore. Bore is the past tense of bear. Now bore means carried or took along.
Long after it was heard, no more. So in these lines, the poet says that he listened to her song silently without moving. And as he walked on up the hill, he carried her music in his heart.
He'll still have it in his heart even after, you know, even long after he stopped hearing the song. So many days, in fact, years have passed, but still that song is residing inside his heart. Alright?
So, with this, children, we have come to the end of this poem. I hope you understood it. Go through the poem once again. Understand its meaning and write down the summary in your English to copy.
Thank you very much.