Class 9, The Solitary Reaper - Solutions of NCERT and CBSE Questions from English Literature Reader - Communicative

Class 9, English Literature Reader (Communicative)

The Solitary Reaper by William Wordsworth

NCERT Solutions and Answers of CBSE Questions

Theme of the Poem

The poem The Solitary Reaper describes the poet’s feelings on seeing a lonely country girl singing and reaping in the field. It is a very touchy, melodious song which makes the poet spell bound. He stands quietly and listens to her song. The whole valley is filled with the sweet song of the solitary reaper.  

Question.1: “Behold her, . . . . . . or gently pass !”

(a): What does Highland Lass signify here?

(b): What is she doing? How does the poet reiterate the idea of the girl’s loneliness?

(c): When does the poet ask to stop or gently pass? Why?

Answer:

(a): In the poem ‘Highland Lass’ signifies a Scottish girl who lives among the mountains.  

(b): She is singing a melodious cool song while reaping the corn. The poet reiterates the idea of the girl’s loneliness by using words like ‘single’, ‘solitary’ and ‘by herself’.

(c): The poet asks the passer-by to stop or gently pass lest the girl is disturbed and stops singing.

Question.2: “Alone she cuts . . . . . . with the sound.”

(a): What does the word she refers to here?

(b): What is the melancholy strain?

(c): How does the poet feel after hearing the girl’s song?

Answer:

(a): ‘She’ refers here to the solitary reaper.

(b): ‘Melancholy strain’ means a sad song.

(c): The girl’s song fascinates the poet very much. It is a very touchy, melodious song which makes the poet spell bound. He stands quietly and listens to her song.

Question.3: “No nightingale . . . . Arabian Sands.”

(a): How does the poet compare the nightingale’s song with that of the solitary reaper?

(b): Which poetic device has the poet used in ‘Among Arabian sands’?

Answer:

(a): The poet says that the nightingale’s song to the tired travelers in some shady oasis in a desert comes as a welcome relief and sounds very sweet. The poet says that the reaper’s song is even sweeter than such a welcome song of the nightingale.

(b): Alliteration

Question.4: “A voice so . . . . . . farthest Hebrides.”

(a): What does the cuckoo do in spring?

(b): Why do you think the poet has chosen the song of nightingale and the cuckoo for comparison with the solitary reaper’s song?

(c): What does the word Hebrides mean?

Answer:

(a): The cuckoo sings loudly and sweetly to herald the onset of spring and, thus, breaks the silence of the seas.

(b): The poet compares the reaper’s song with that of nightingale and the cuckoo, to suggest that the solitary reaper’s song is more melodious, sweeter and cool.

(c): Hebrides is a group of islands in the north-west of Scotland.

Question.5: “Will no one . . . . . . battles long ago.”

(a): What are the poet’s guesses?

(b): What does the first line suggest?

Answer:

(a): The poet’s guess is that the girl’s song is about some disaster or calamity in the past, or about some battle fought in the past.

(b): The first line in the form of a question suggests that the poet does not understand the language of the reaper. He is unable to understand the meaning of her song.

Question.6: “Or is it some . . . . . . and may be again!”

(a): What is the meaning of this stanza?

(b): What is the meaning of humble lay?

Answer:

(a): In this stanza the poet is trying to make a guess about the subject matter of the reaper’s song. The poet guesses that the reaper’s song is about some everyday, routine event, about the sorrow or suffering on the death or about the illness of a loved one.

(b): A humble lay means an ordinary song.

Question.7: “I listen’d, motionless . . . . heard no more.”  

(a): How did the poet listen to the solitary reaper’s song?

(b): Explain ‘The music in my heart I bore’.

Answer:

(a): The poet listened to the reaper’s song quietly. He stood motionless as he listened. He did not want to disturb the girl.

(b): The music of the reaper’s song haunted the poet long after it was heard no more.

Question.8: Why do you think Wordsworth has chosen the songs of the nightingale and the cuckoo, for comparison with the solitary reaper’s song?  

Answer: William Wordsworth is one of the greatest poets in English literature. While listening to the reaper’s song the poet recalls the sweet songs of the nightingale and the cuckoo. The girl’s song is sweeter than the welcome song of the nightingale to a group of tired travelers in some oasis of the Arabian Desert. The cuckoo sings to welcome the advent of spring. But the reaper’s song is even sweeter than the song of the cuckoo that disturbs the silence of the seas.

The nightingale and the cuckoo are the two sweetest singing birds of the world. Through the two comparisons, the poet tries to suggest the fact that the solitary reaper’s song is more melodious and sweeter than the songs of the nightingale and the cuckoo.