The Solitary Reaper Analysis

The poem'The Solitary Reaper' was written by William Wordsworth in the Romantic Era. Most of William Wordsworth poems are filled with his passionate belief in the beuty and power of nature. He desribed nature not as something beautiful, but as an expression of the 'spirit' and the 'music of humanity'. The poem describes one of Wordsworth's early experiences in nature, that is a source of both joy and tranquility, as the lonely girl reaped corn in the Scottish field.

'The Solitary Reaper' is a description of a melodious sound that is heard in the atmosphere. Its mood can be described as one of relaxation,depression and gentleness. The structure is a four-eight line stanzas each ending with a couplet and composed of lines that are written in iambic tetrameter.

'A voice so thrilling was ne'er heard'
The above qoute describes how the sound of the girl's voice was accepted by all who heard. The sound of the reaper was pleasurable, and indeed welcoming. This qoute also shows how the voice could not be compare to any other that existed.

Wordwroth uses a few literary devices to express his description so the readerss could imagine themselves listening to the soothing voice of the Scottish reaper. These include hyperboles, the use of rhetorical questions and metaphors. The use of hyperboles is seen in this sentece 'Breaking the silence of the seas, among the farthest Hebrids.' It describes the voice of the reaper as one that is so loud, that it was heard miles away from where it originally began.

The use of metaphors were seen when the poet compares the voice of the reaper to other beautiful voices, such as those of a 'Cuckoo-bird in the spring-time' and the voice of a 'nightingale'. Rhetorical questions were seen used to show emphasis or to allow the poet to ask questions that gives ideas about what she is singing about, since he does not undesrtand the language. However they can feel the emotions by the tone of her as he describes it.

The poem's ryhme scheme regular and following the pattern of 'abaccdd', having off-rhymed lines in the first and fourth stanzas of the 'a' lines. Its rythmic beat allows the poem to flow in a graceful motin,so that the poem is easil understood. The poem allows the reader to be captivated by the voice in the fields, and gives the reader a mood of peace and tranquility, and allowing them to feel awed by such simplicity.

I am privileged to have read this poem as I entered a mood of peace and stillness, as I imagined myself listening to the reaper singing in a 'melcholy strain'.