THE SOLITARY REAPER

Exercise from page 202-203

1. The characters are the speaking voice and a girl, who sings. The girl cuts and binds the grain and she sings while the speaking voice listens to her. The setting is the Highlands of Scotland.

2. The chant of the Nightingale is compared with the reaper's song and the Nightingale's chant is also compared with the songs for weary bands of travellers in some shady haunt among Arabian sands. The two comparisons have in common the relaxed tone with the reaper's song. They suggest a calm landscape and we think that it can relate to the Highlands.

3. The possible subjects of the reaper's song are unhappy things or struggles or some natural sorrow. They have got in common the unhappiness.

4. The reaper's song creates strong emotions on the speaking voice, but finally his tone is unhappy, because he can't understand what she sings.

Analysis of the title and denotative analysis

Reading the title the reader may think the poem speaks about someone, who is cutting and binding the grain and he or she is alone.

The speaking voice comes across a girl reaping the corn by herself. She sings in the hills of the Highlands and her song creates strong emotions in the speaking voice, who stops himself and listens to it.

Connotative analysis

The speaking voice underlines the solitude of the girl “single- solitary- by herself- alone” that is already provided in the title, because he wants to convey the effect of her melody. Besides her singing is in comparison with the singing of a nightingale that means she is unified with the nature around her. As a matter of fact he refers to the nature “ field- reaping- grain”. After that he focuses his attention on the sound of her singing. The sound is sweet, sad and calm, but it is able to strike the speaking. In addition the vale is “flowing” as if it were a pot, but it is, because there is a boom, therefore the reader can imagine the sound of the girl’s singing.

Besides the intensity of the sound is able to travel through the space and the speaking voice uses the term “breaking” and it remembers the reader a broken vase and it is connected to the flowing of the sound.

After that he supposes what she is singing about. The first hypothesis is that she is singing about an history happened long ago. That means the speaking voice wants to give relevance to her singing as if she were a sort of testimony. The second hypothesis is something sadness that is happened or will happen. That means the speaking voice wants to underline her ability to convey her solitude. But the principle thing is not the message of the singing, but how she conveys it. The sound is a charming sound and it is able to give strong emotions to the speaking voice and it seems the singing of Ulysses’ siren. As a matter of fact the sound is into the heart, that means it is able to move the speaking voice. Besides the sound was not heard more, probably because the sound was so particular or she was only an imagination.