William Wordsworth The Solitary Reaper Ballad Focus on common place a bcb ddee Abab ccdd Iambic tetrameter Adds musicality to poem Parallels her song Stanza I Behold her single in the field ID: 303811
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Slide1
“The Solitary Reaper”
William Wordsworth Slide2
“The Solitary Reaper”
Ballad
Focus on common place
a
bcb
ddee
Abab
ccdd
Iambic tetrameter
Adds musicality to poem
Parallels her songSlide3
Stanza I
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy stain;
listen! For the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.Slide4
Stanza I
Sees beautiful girl singing as
s
he is reaping
“single in the field,/ Yon solitary Highland lass!...by herself”
Diction and tone
Solitary person to exemplify that we are sole companions with nature.
Imagery conveys image as seen through speaker’s eye.
Pure, quiet, beautiful
Overpowers the speaker Slide5
Stanza I
“Stop here, or gently pass!”
Command not to interrupt
Beauty and majesty he sees
Focus on the sound of her song
Setting and tone
“sings a melancholy strain;/ O listen! For the vale profound/ Is overflowing with the sound.”
Valley filled with her song
Voice haunting through the distance of the speaker Slide6
Stanza II
No nightingale did ever
chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travelers in some shady haunt
Among Arabian sands.
A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In springtime from the cuck00-bird,
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides. Slide7
Stanza II
“No nightingale did ever
chaunt
”
Common yet elusive bird
Metaphor
Emphasizes the power and purity of her voice
“More welcome notes to weary bands/ Of travelers in some shady haunt/ Among Arabian sands.”
Soothing and welcoming
Hyperbole to exemplify the beauty and purity of her voice Slide8
Stanza II
“A voice to thrilling ne’er was heard/ In springtime from the cuckoo-bird,/ Breaking the silence of the seas/ Among the farthest Hebrides.”
Metaphor and hyperbole
Aspects that cannot match the beauty and purity of her voice.
Hebrides- Northwest coast of Scotland Slide9
Stanza III
Consonance
“voice”
“silence”
“seas”
“farthest”
Hebrides”
Repetitive s sound adds musicality Slide10
Stanza III
Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the
plainitve
numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far off things,
And battle long ago.
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of today?
Some natural sorrow, loss. Or pain,
That has been, and may ne again? Slide11
Stanza III
“Will no one tell me what she sings?”
Doesn’t understand the song but retains its beauty
Only the tone and sound of her voice
“Perhaps the
plainitive
numbers flow/ For old, unhappy, far-off things,/ And battles long ago.”
Hears emotion in her voice
A quest?
Nostalgic?
Grief for unsung heroes?
A domestic issue?Slide12
Stanza IV
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-
I listened, motionless and still;
And, as I mounted up the hill,
The music in my heart I bore
Long after it was heard no more. Slide13
Stanza IV
“
Whate’er
the theme, the maiden sang/ As if her song could have no ending;”
Music seems to never end
Continued “s” sound
Music continues to haunt speaker Slide14
Stanza IV
Beauty and power of nature and the music of humanity.
The expression of the human spirit even in not understood.