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The Solitary Reaper….William

Wordsworth

“The Solitary Reaper” is about the power of the imagination to transform common, everyday events into representations of a larger reality.

A Warm welcome to all the spectators. Today’s host , S.Balambal welcomes you all with a never ending smile to the morning show on The Solitary Reaper at Kendriya Vidhyalaya Karaikudi’s vast and informative library.We all love the great romantic – nature poet William Wordsworth. But why? William Wordsworth is one of the most important English poets and a founder of the Romantic Movement of English literature, a style of writing that focuses on emotion and imagination. His poems were not only romantic and related to nature , but also attractive. The language he uses in all his poems are very rich.

Themes Wordsworth uses in his poems….The Beneficial Influence of NatureThroughout Wordsworth’s work, nature provides the

ultimate good influence on the human mind. All manifestations of the natural world—from the highest mountain to the simplest flower—elicit noble, elevated thoughts and passionate emotions in the people who observe these manifestations. Wordsworth repeatedly emphasizes the importance of nature to an individual’s intellectual and spiritual development. A good relationship with nature helps individuals connect to both the spiritual and the social worlds. As Wordsworth explains in The Prelude, a love of nature can lead to a love of humankind. In such poems as “The World Is Too Much with Us” (1807) and “London, 1802” (1807) people become selfish and immoral when they distance themselves from nature by living in cities. Humanity’s innate empathy and nobility of spirit becomes corrupted by artificial social conventions as well as by the squalor of city life. In contrast, people who spend a lot of time in nature, such as laborers and farmers, retain the purity and nobility of their souls.

Themes Wordsworth uses in his poems….The Power of the Human MindWordsworth praised the power of the human mind. Using memory and

imagination, individuals could overcome difficulty and pain. For instance, the speaker in “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” (1798) relieves his loneliness with memories of nature, while the leech gatherer in “Resolution and Independence” (1807) perseveres cheerfully in the face of poverty by the exertion of his own will. The transformative powers of the mind are available to all, regardless of an individual’s class or background. This democratic view emphasizes individuality and uniqueness. Throughout his work, Wordsworth showed strong support for the political, religious, and artistic rights of the individual, including the power of his or her mind. In the 1802 preface to Lyrical Ballads, Wordsworth explained the relationship between the mind and poetry. Poetry is “emotion recollected in tranquility”—that is, the mind transforms the raw emotion of experience into poetry capable of giving pleasure. Later poems, such as “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” (1807), imagine nature as the source of the inspiring material that nourishes the active, creative mind.

The Splendor of ChildhoodIn Wordsworth’s poetry, childhood is a magical, magnificent time of

innocence. Children form an intense bond with nature, so much so that they appear to be a part of the natural world, rather than a part of the human, social world. Their relationship to nature is passionate and extreme: children feel joy at seeing a rainbow but great terror at seeing desolation or decay. In 1799, Wordsworth wrote several poems about a girl named Lucy who died at a young age. These poems, including “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” (1800) and “Strange fits of passion have I known” (1800), praise her beauty and lament her untimely death. In death, Lucy retains the innocence and splendor of childhood, unlike the children who grow up, lose their connection to nature, and lead unfulfilling lives. The speaker in “Ode: Intimations of Immortality” believes that children delight in nature because they have access to a divine, immortal world. As children age and reach maturity, they lose this connection but gain an ability to feel emotions, both good and bad. Through the power of the human mind, particularly memory, adults can recollect the devoted connection to nature of their youth.

Themes Wordsworth uses in his poems….

The poem is an example of the commonplace pointing the sensitive observer toward an ideal of unity or completeness of being. Although the reaper is a flesh-and-blood person, she becomes a spiritual gateway for the speaker of the poem. The natural environment that surrounds her only heightens her mystery. Her simple song is an expression of her own heritage and background, yet the speaker imagines it to be an articulation of the eternal, the boundless, the ultimate reality. This intuitive impression of the infinite leaves the speaker a different person than when he first encountered the girl. The wonder of her song permeates his intellect and lingers in his heart long after he hears the last notes.

The Theme Of The Poem : Transcendence

Before you go in :For modern readers, whose lives overflow with activity, the theme of encountering the transcendent in nature or through everyday events may at first seem strange. Since many people have little chance to walk in the woods or stroll through farmland, readers might be tempted to dismiss Wordsworth’s poem because the setting and situation do not reflect their own experiences. Although the values, concerns, and lifestyle of Wordsworth’s time were different, the yearning of the human spirit to feel connected to something larger than itself remains as strong today as it was during the nineteenth century. Modern people long for a quiet place to recollect themselves, a place where they can catch a glimpse of the eternal in the details of their lives. Thus the theme of transcendence in “The Solitary Reaper” is timeless, as it speaks to the needs of the human spirit.

The Solitary ReaperBehold her , single in the field ,Yon solitary Highland lass !Reaping and singing by herself !Stop here , or gently pass !

{1}

PARAPHRASE : The poet asks us to look at a young girl of the mountainous region of Scotland. She is reaping and binding the crop all by herself. No one is there to help her. The poet suggests two options : Either you stand and watch her working or gently pass from there without disturbing her.

Alone she cuts , and binds the grain ,And sings a melancholy strain ;O listen ! for the vale profoundIs overflowing with the sound .

{2}

PARAPHRASE : The solitary reaper is alone in the field. She cuts and binds the grain all by herself. And she sings a sad song. The poet urges us to listen to her song. The deep valley is overflowing with the sound of the reaper’s song

No nightingale did ever chant More welcome notes to weary bandsOf Travellers in some shady hauntAmong Arabian Sands

{3}

PARAPHRASE : No nightingale ever sang such melodious welcome songs to the groups of tired travellers resting in shady places in the desert of Arabia

A voice so thrilling was ne’er heardIn spring time from the cuckoo birdBreaking the silence of the seasAmong the farthest Hebrides

{4}

PARAPHRASE : The highland lass's voice is way more thrilling than the cuckoo's spring-time song. And that cuckoo-song, according to our speaker, was one of the only sounds that broke the calm silence of the seas near the Hebrides.

Will no one tell me what she sings ?Perhaps the plaintive numbers flowFor old ,unhappy , far – off things ,And battles long ago ;

{5}

PARAPHRASE : The poet can’t guess the subject matter of her song. He asks if no one can tell him what is the theme of her songs. Then , he makes a guess. Perhaps her sad songs are related to some old, unhappy events that took place in the distant past. It is possible that her song is related to the battles that were fought long long ago.

Or is it some more humble lay,Familiar matter of to-day ?Some natural sorrow , loss or pain ,That has been , and may be again ?

{ 6}

PARAPHRASE : It is quite possible that her song is related to some ordinary and unimportant matters of day-to-day life. It is quite possible that in her song she is describing some natural calamity, loss or pain that happened in the past and may happen in the future again.

Whate’er the theme , the maiden sangAs if her song could have no ending;I saw her singing at her work ,And o’er the sickle bending

{7}

PARAPHRASE : Whatever might be the theme of the maiden’s song , she sang in a way that it appeared to have no ending. The poet saw her singing at her work and bending over her sickle

I listen’d motionless and stillAnd , as I mounted up the hill ,The music in my heart I bore,Was heard no more.

{8}

PARAPHRASE: The poet listened to the song of the reaper silently without disturbing her. Then he climbed up the hill. The song entered deep in the heart of the poet. He heard its echo in his heart long after it was heard no more.

William Wordsworth…..

William Wordsworth was born on April 7th, 1770, in Cockermouth, Cumberland, England. Young William’s parents, John and Ann, died during his boyhood. Raised amid the mountains of Cumberland alongside the River Derwent, Wordsworth grew up in a rustic society, and spent a great deal of his time playing outdoors, in what he would later remember as a pure communion with nature. In the early 1790s William lived for a time in France, then in the grip of the violent Revolution; Wordsworth’s philosophical sympathies lay with the revolutionaries, but his loyalties lay with England, whose monarchy he was not prepared to see overthrown. Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semiautobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge. Wordsworth was Britain's Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death in 1850.

Do You Know ?John Keats , Percy Bysshe Shelley , William

Wordsworth were known as the trinities of romantic era in English literature. Besides their lovely and passionate poems , their great achievement was the launching of a romantic era.

Don’t simply look at me . It’s indeed a fact !

Form of this poem….

The four eight-line stanzas of this poem are written in a tight iambic tetrameter. Each follows a rhyme scheme of ABABCCDD, though in the first and last stanzas the “A” rhyme is off (field/self and sang/work).

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