The Solitary Reaper Analysis

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Register to read the introduction… Yet Wordsworth cannot help but appreciate not only the song and the mood it creates, but also the beauty of the reaper’s expressive tone, suggesting that music is a universal language capable of linking all human beings despite the differences in background. Not understanding the lyrics, Wordsworth impatiently asks the rhetorical question “Will no one tell me what she sings?” (17), unveiling his passionate desire to learn the meaning behind the girl’s song. His lack of understanding causes him to use his imagination to ponder the meaning as he wonders if: Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles 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? (18-24)
Through his thoughts, Wordsworth convinces the reader that whether the song refers to the past of “battles long ago” (20), the present “matter of today” (22), or future “loss, or pain” (23), the retelling of the history of a people often occurs through the form of music.
Although Wordsworth cannot fathom the surface content
…show more content…
Written as a lyric, “The Solitary Reaper” illustrates the harmonious song the girl sings as the poem itself flows with numerous euphonious words. With short lines and rhymes, the poem has a quick pace, creating a musical rhythm, further asserting the underlying theme of music. Permitting readers to feel Wordsworth’s experience and awe, the lyric poem exists as evidence that the lingering effects of music endure through time, passing history down from one generation to the

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