CBSE Class 9 English Chapter 8 The Solitary Reaper Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings and Literary Devices from Literature Reader (Communicative) Book
The Solitary Reaper Class 9 – CBSE Class 9 English Literature Reader (Communicative) Book Poem The Solitary Reaper Summary and Detailed explanation of the Poem along with the meanings of difficult words.
Class 9 English Literature Reader Poem – The Solitary Reaper
By William Wordsworth
- The Solitary Reaper Introduction
- The Solitary Reaper Summary
- The Solitary Reaper Summary in Hindi
- Video Explanation of The Solitary Reaper
- The Solitary Reaper Lesson Explanation
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The Solitary Reaper Introduction
This poem is about a day when the poet saw a beautiful woman working in the fields and harvesting the grain. She was singing a sad song which had a great impact on the poet. The poet never saw the woman again, but the song remained in his mind forever.
The Solitary Reaper Summary
One day, the poet William Wordsworth saw a young woman from the Highlands region of Scotland working alone in a field and harvesting grain with a sickle. She was attractive. She was singing a luring song, whose melody sounded sad and melancholy. Her voice was as melodious as a nightingale’s and could be heard echoing throughout the valley. It was a voice suitable for welcoming some travellers to the deserts of Arabia. It was a voice which was more thrilling than that of a cuckoo bird, which was powerful enough to break the silence in the most remote group of islands that lie to the north-west of Scotland. The poet could not know the real reason or story behind the sad song, so he thinks of several backstories behind the song. He said that the song may have been just a plaintive flow about old, unhappy battles and wars. Next, he said that the song may have been an ordinary song about the hardships of ordinary life, a collection of what happens every day and will continue to happen every day. The poet observed that, regardless of the theme, the song seemed endless, just like her work. The poet was so affected by the melody that he stopped moving altogether. He climbed the hills, his heart full with the melody. He went back to the same fields where the young woman was working but the woman was no longer there and he could no longer hear the melodious voice or know the real backstory behind her sad song.
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The Solitary Reaper Summary in Hindi
एक दिन, कवि विलियम वर्ड्सवर्थ ने स्कॉटलैंड के हाइलैंड्स क्षेत्र की एक युवा महिला को खेत में अकेले काम करते और दरांती से अनाज काटते देखा। वह आकर्षक थी। वह एक लुभावना गीत गा रही थी, जिसकी धुन दुखद और उदासी भरी लग रही थी। उसकी आवाज़ बुलबुल की तरह सुरीली थी और पूरी घाटी में गूंजती हुई सुनी जा सकती थी। यह अरब के रेगिस्तान में कुछ यात्रियों का स्वागत करने के लिए उपयुक्त आवाज़ थी। कवी इस आवाज़ की तुलना कोयल पक्षी की आवाज़ से करते हुए कहते हैं कि यह उससे भी अधिक रोमांचकारी थी। उसकी आवाज़ स्कॉटलैंड के उत्तर–पश्चिम में स्थित द्वीपों के सबसे दूरस्थ समूह में चुप्पी तोड़ने के लिए भी काफी शक्तिशाली थी। कवि इस दुखद गीत के पीछे का वास्तविक कारण या कहानी नहीं जान सका, इसलिए वह गीत के पीछे कई पिछली कहानियों के बारे में सोचता है। उन्होंने कहा कि यह गीत पुरानी, दुखद लड़ाइयों और युद्धों के बारे में एक वादी प्रवाह मात्र हो सकता है। इसके आगे उन्होंने कहा कि यह गाना आम जिंदगी की कठिनाइयों के बारे में एक साधारण गाना हो सकता है, जो हर दिन घटित होता है और जो हर दिन घटित होता रहेगा, उसका एक संग्रह है। कवि ने देखा कि, विषय की परवाह किए बिना, गीत भी उस महिला के काम की तरह ही अंतहीन लग रहा था। कवि राग से इतना प्रभावित हुआ कि उसने हिलना–डुलना ही बंद कर दिया। वह पहाड़ियों पर चढ़ गया, उसका हृदय राग से भर गया। वह उन्हीं खेतों में वापस गया जहां युवती काम कर रही थी लेकिन वह महिला अब वहां नहीं थी और वह अब सुरीली आवाज नहीं सुन सकता था या उसके दुखद गीत के पीछे की असली कहानी नहीं जान सकता था।
Video Explanation of The Solitary Reaper
The Solitary Reaper Explanation
Poem:
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Word meanings:
solitary: alone, lonely
highland lass: a girl who lives in the highlands (mountain regions) of Scotland
reaping: cutting and gathering a crop; such as corn or rice
Explanation:
The poet says that he once saw a young woman working in the fields alone. She was a ‘highland lass’, meaning that the woman looked like she had come from the highlands or the mountain regions of Scotland. The woman was harvesting the grain and singing a song to keep herself entertained. The poet says that by stopping at the fields or by gently passing, we would be able to hear her song clearly.
Poem:
Alone she cuts, and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
Word meanings:
bind: tie or fasten two things or objects together tightly
melancholy strain: sad song
vale profound: the entire valley
Explanation:
The poet says that not only was the woman harvesting the grain, but she was also binding some of the straws together to form a bunch of grains. While she was doing work in the field, she was singing a sad song which was echoing throughout the valley.
Poem:
No nightingale did ever chant
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt
Among Arabian Sands.
Word meanings:
nightingale: a bird noted for her sweet song
weary: tired
band: a group of people
shady: suspicious
haunt: a place frequently visited by a person
Arabian Sands: the deserts of Arabia (the Middle East)
Explanation:
The woman’s voice was so melodious that the poet says that no nightingale would have ever sung more meodiously than her. These nightingales can be heard in the deserts of Arabia. Their pleasant voice is the only source of joy to the tired travellers who take shelter in the shade while crossing these deserts.
Poem:
A voice so thrilling ne’ er was heard
In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
Word meanings:
thrilling: something which is exciting and pleasurable
farthest Hebrides: the most remote group of islands that lie to the north-west of Scotland
Explanation:
The poet describes the voice of the woman to be so incredibly melodious, that it generates a feeling of excitement and pleasure that no other voice could ever generate. It was similar to the sound of the chirping of the cuckoo-bird that is heard in the spring season. The sound of a cuckoo-bird is the only one that can be heard across the silent sea to the north-west of the islands of Scotland.
Poem:
Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Word meanings:
plaintive numbers: sorrowful songs
far-off: something which is distant or faraway
Explanation:
The poet wants to know the story behind the song. Almost each and every song has a story or a motive behind it. The woman was singing a sad but interesting song, and so the poet is curious to know what the song was about. He thinks that maybe the song was just a sorrowful song about the battles that had already taken place or the unhappy things that she may have faced.
Poem:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of to-day?
Same natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
that has been, and may be again?
Word meanings:
humble lay: ordinary song
Explanation:
The poet thinks that maybe the song was about ordinary or day-to-day happenings which cause grief in someone’s heart. Maybe the song was about some natural sorrows, loss of possessions, or pain caused by harsh words. This is the kind of sorrow that a person tends to experience everyday, and so such topics are familiar.
Poem:
Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o’er the sickle bending;
Word meanings:
sickle: a tool for cutting grass and grain crops. It has a short handle and a blade shaped like a hook.
Explanation:
The poet says that no matter what the theme or the story behind the song was, the maiden or the young woman was singing the song continuously, as if the song had no end. This indicates that the story behind the song or the pain or sorrow symbolised by the song is never-ending. The song was as never-ending as her work, as she kept on harvesting the grain using the sickle.
Poem:
I listen’d, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
Word meanings:
listen’d: listened
mounted: climbed
bore: carried
Explanation:
The poet says that the song was captivating and moving that he could not even move. He stood still and just listened to the song with all his attention. After that, he climbed up a hill, but his heart and mind was full of the melody he had just heard. Perhaps, he was unable to concentrate on his journey. He wanted to listen to the woman’s voice again, but when he came to the same fields, he saw that the woman was not there anymore. He did not see the woman ever again, and so he did not hear the song again.
Poetic Devices
1. Rhyme Scheme
This can be found in all the stanzas.
Stanza 1: field, lass, herself, pass – abcb
Stanza 2: grain, strain, profound, sound – aabb
Stanza 3: chant, bands, haunt, sands – abcb
Stanza 4: heard, bird, seas, Hebrides – aabb
Stanza 5: sings, flow, things, go – abab
Stanza 6: lay, day, pain, again – aabb
Stanza 7: sang, ending, work, bending – abcb
Stanza 8: still, hill, bore, more – aabb
2. Apostrophe
It is the literary device which is used when a poet or poetess addresses an absent, dead or non-human as if the human were present.
Stanza 1: “O listen! For the vane profound”
3. Consonance – The repeated use of a consonant sound
Stanza 2: “Alone she cuts, and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain:” The sound of the consonant ‘n’ is repeated in these two lines.
Stanza 3: “No nightingale did ever chant, the sound of ‘n’ is repeated.
Stanza 4: “Breaking the silence of the seas”, the sound of ‘s’ is repeated.
Stanza 7: “Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang”, the sound of ‘t’ is repeated.
Stanza 8: “I listen’d, motionless and still”, the sound of ‘s’ is repeated.
4. Assonance – The repeated use of a consonant sound
Stanza 1: “Behold her, single in the field,” – the sound of the vowel “i” is repeated.
Stanza 2: “And sings a melancholy strain:” – the sound of the vowel “a” is repeated. “O listen! for the vale profound” – the sound of the vowel “o” is repeated.
Stanza 3: “No nightingale did ever chant” – the vowels ‘a’, ‘e’. ‘I’ are repeated. “More welcome notes to weary bands” – the sound of the vowel ‘o’ is repeated. “Among Arabian Sands” – the sound of the vowel ‘a’ is repeated.
Stanza 4: “In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird.” – the sound of the vowel ‘i’ is repeated. “Breaking the silence of the seas” – the sound of the vowel ‘e’ is repeated.
Stanza 6: “Same natural sorrow, loss, or pain,” – the sound of the vowels ‘a’ and ‘o’ are repeated. “that has been, and may be again ?” – the sound of the vowel ‘a’ is repeated.
Stanza 7: “Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang” – the sound of the vowel ‘e’ is repeated. “And o’er the sickle bending;” – the sound of the vowel ‘e’ is repeated.
5. Enjambment – the continuance of the sentence to the next line without punctuation marks at the end of a line
Stanza 2: O listen! for the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
Stanza 3: No nightingale did ever chant
More welcome notes to weary bands
Stanza 4: A voice so thrilling ne’ er was heard
In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird.
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
Stanza 5: Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
Stanza 7: Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
Stanza 8: I listen’d, motionless and still
And, as I mounted up the hill,
6. Alliteration – the repeated use of a consonant sound at the start of two or more consecutive words
Stanza 7: “the theme,” in “Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang”
More welcome notes to weary bands (line 10)
Breaking the silence of the seas (line 15)
Whate’er the theme, the maiden sang (line 25)
I saw her singing at her work (line 27)
The Music in my heart I bore (line 31)
7. Imagery – the creation of an image by using any way like imagery, sound, motion, etc.
In Stanza 1 – “Behold her, single in the field, Yon solitary Highland lass! Reaping and singing by herself; ”
and 2 – “Alone she cuts, and binds the grain, And sings a melancholy strain:”
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