Describe the response of Wordsworth to the sight of the solitary reaper
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How does Wordsworth describe the song of the Solitary Reaper?
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PAYAL KHULLAR eNotes educator| CERTIFIED EDUCATOR
In Wordsworth’s Solitary Reaper, the speaker of the poem finds a maiden working all “by herself” in the field and singing a melodious song. Wordsworth describes the lonesome maiden’s song as sad and beautiful. He compares her voice with the beautiful cries of the nightingale in the “Arabian sands” and the cuckoo-bird during spring in the “farthest” islands of "Hebrides." The speaker who beholds the maiden singing a sweet melody in her voice “so thrilling" feels emotionally exhilarated and completely moved by the beauty and intensity of the song. Although he is unable to understand the meaning of the words of the song, as the maiden sings the song in a language unknown to him, he tries to connect with her emotions and projects a few possible interpretations of the song in his mind. He contemplates that the song is possibly about “old, unhappy, far-off things," “And battles long ago,” or “Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain