Chiara Nardi                                                      5^B

“The Solitary Reaper “

Just reading the title, the reader may expect the poem to be set in the country because the reaper generally works in the fields.

One interesting element that may draw your attention of the reader is the use of the adjective “solitary”.The choice may anticipate a melancholic atmosphere or a sad one.

The speaking voice invites a passer by to look at a girl who’s working alone in the fields, in the way she’s reaping. She was singing the speaking voice. Her song is melancholic and seems to fill all the valley also creating an echo effect.

The poem is made up of four stanzas; the first one introduces the scene. In the second he compares the girl’s song a nightmare/cuckoo’s song but it’s better.

In the following stanza the speaking voice is wondering about the kind of song (that) the girl is singing. In the last stanza he understands that the type of song is not important and what really matters is the fact that he remembered it even a long time after having heard it.

The rhyme scheme is quiete regular, and conveys a sense of order and pacefullness.