Hi Everyone!! This article will share The Solitary Reaper Questions & Answers.
This poem is written by William Wordsworth. In my previous posts, I have shared the questions and answers of The Purple Children, The Monkey’s Paw and To the Evening Star so, you can check these posts as well.
The Solitary Reaper Questions & Answers
Question 1: How does the poet convey a sense of solitude in the first stanza?
Answer: The poet uses words like ‘solitary’, ‘single’, ‘by herself ’. These convey a sense of solitude.
Question 2: Who is the poet addressing when he says: ‘Stop her, or gently pass’?
Answer: The poet is addressing the reader when he uses these words.
Question 3: In what way is the nightingale’s song ‘welcome’ and the cuckoo’s song ‘thrilling’?
Answer: The nightingale’s song cheers the weary travellers who are crossing the desert. The song of the cuckoo breaks the long silence of the winter months and heralds the coming of spring.
Question 4: Did the poet understand what the reaper was singing about? Which phrases in the poem tell us?
Answer: No, he didn’t understand. The phrases which tell us this are:
Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow…
Question 5: Which words or phrases tell us that the reaper’s song is not joyous one?
Answer: The words such as ‘melancholy’, ‘unhappy’, ‘loss’ and ‘pain’ and the phrases ‘plaintive numbers’ and ‘natural sorrow’ tell us that reaper’s song is not joyous one.
Question 6: How does the reaper’s song affect the poet?
Answer: The solitary reaper’s song affects the poet as he stands still there and listens to the melancholy melodious song. The poet found the quality of the reaper’s song quite divine and sublime. He was so much attracted by her song that he stood transfixed.
Question 7: Read and answer the questions:
1. Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
(a) Who is the poet addressing at this point?
Answer: The poet is addressing other passersby at this point.
(b) Who is ‘she’ and where is she?
Answer: She is a highland lass cutting grain in the hills of Scotland.
(c) What kind of effect did she have on the poet?
Answer: She hypnotised/mesmerised the poet with the song that she sings, and he is unable to move away.
(d) What does melancholy strain mean and which other synonymous phrase does the poet use later in the poem?
Answer: It means a sad song. The other phrase is: ‘plaintive numbers’.
2. A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard
In springtime from the Cuckoo bird,
(a) Prior to this, which bird’s song is the reaper’s song compared to?
Answer: Prior to this, Nightingale’s song is compared to the reaper’s song.
(b) Where might the Cuckoo bird be heard?
Answer: The Cuckoo bird might be heard among the farthest island of Hebrides.
(c) What might this thrilling voice do there?
Answer: This thrilling voice might break the silence of the sea.
Question 8: What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
Answer: In the first stanza, it is abcbddee. In the second stanza, it is ababccdd.
Question 9: How many syllables are there in each line of the poem?
Answer: There are eight syllables in each line.
Question 10: Which lines are shorter than the others? What effect does this have?
Answer: Every fourth line of the stanzas is shorter than the rest. The short line concludes the train of thought of the speaker.
Question 11: What is the difference between the first four lines and the next four lines of each stanza?
Answer: The rhyme scheme is different—the first four lines abcb, next four lines ddee. The last line of the first quartet is in iambic trimetre, while the last line of the second quartet is in iambic tetrametre.
So, these were The Solitary Reaper Questions & Answers.