Analysis of The Reaper
William Wordsworth 1770 (Wordsworth House) – 1850 (Cumberland)
Behold her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and binds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.
No nightingale did ever chaunt
More welcome notes to weary bands
Of travellers in some shady haunt,
Among Arabian sands:
A voice so thrilling ne'er was heard
In spring-time from the cuckoo-bird
Breaking the silence of the seas
Among the farthest Hebrides.
Will no one tell me what she sings?
Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago:
Or is it some more humble lay,
Familiar matter of today?
Some natural sorrow, loss, or pain,
That has been, and may be again!
Whate'er the theme, the maiden sang
As if her song could have no ending;
I saw her singing at her work,
And o'er the sickle bending;
I listened, motionless and still;
And as I mounted up the hill
The music in my heart I bore,
Long after it was heard no more.
Scheme | ABXBCCDD AEXEFFGG HIHIJJCX XKXKLLMM |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 01010001 1100101 10010101 111101 01110101 0101001 11010101 1100101 11001101 11011101 110001101 0101001 01110111 0111011 10010101 01010100 11111111 01010101 11010111 010101 11111101 01010101 110010111 11101101 10010101 110111110 11010101 01001010 11010001 01110101 01001111 11011111 |
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 994 |
Words | 185 |
Sentences | 10 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 32 |
Letters per line (avg) | 25 |
Words per line (avg) | 6 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 199 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 46 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 56 sec read
- 96 Views
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