Please Discuss about W.Wordsworth.....

I hope you people will find good to discuss about legendary poet William Wordsworth.Needless to say,he was a great poet of 18th and 19 th century.I want to talk about "The solitary Reaper".Just,yesterday and today,we talked about the poem in the class.The question put forth was what is the meaning that has been conveyed in that poem? The meaning may be rural beauty,may be evils of war,may be feelings of loneliness.Please,people,Read the poem and express that what you feel about the poem.I think that different people will intrepet in the different way.My Madam was saying that the poem may be from the feminist perspective.Can u ppl find that how the poem may be written from feminist perspective.You read the poem from this site or i have given below too and express your meaning:

The Reaper(The solitary Reaper)
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.

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Originally Posted by Rajib

The meaning may be rural beauty, may be evils of war, may be feelings of loneliness.

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Originally Posted by Rajib

My Madam was saying that the poem may be from the feminist perspective.

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I can see all of your ideas, Rajib, and find them as interesting perspectives. Wordsworth, among many other poets, often writes in a manner that readers can perceive in several different ways, to say the least. Along with Wordsworth, John Donne and Emily Dickinson also glorified the meditation of Death and gave him an image with which many, many people now share the perception, culturally.
Wordsworth seems, like Donne and Dickinson, in awe of Death, its immortality (as long as life exists), and dark, mysterious, intriguing beauty. Giving the work a slight narrative form, he practically calls for Death, as you said, perhaps out of loneliness ("Stop here, or gently pass!"); he craves the feeling and perception symbolized by singing ("Will no one tell me what she sings?"). Wordsworth further makes music into a metaphor as what keeps his heart beating once Death takes him ("And as I mounted up the hill / The music in my heart I bore, / Long after it was heard no more.").
Thank you for sharing the poem, Rajib.

ok,Thank You for your comment.There is the voice of women who is working in the field.She represents the rural women and she expresses her anguish in a melancholic way.The poet does not understand in fact,what she was saying but knows that the song is about the loneliness,song about the protest,song about the anguish and hard life without any male member in the family.She might be widow and may be demanding or making the world aware about the necessity of integration.
What Do U Think?

I can see your point, Rajib, and I would have never thought it in that feminist perspective. There also seems a lack of understanding between the poet and 'her,' referring to Death. Also among the differences between the two, a mannerism Wordsworth makes constant references too recognizes 'her' diligence and hard-working, while continuing her sense of grace and beauty with song. I agree with you that 'she' seeks integration (as Death and life also seek integration).
Your suggestion of a widow - perhaps, as it would further hint at the concept of Death, working, and adjusting with a more complicated life. I can also imagine a woman who merely never married, but never seems inexperienced, relying only on herself, separated from all others.
Thank you for the interesting discussion, Rajib.

Interestingly,one of my frens is writing a project on this poem.He is revealing different issues related to this poem.This would be very long as our class work as long as 20 pages.I wonder what he writes?
But ,still,I think that we can interpret this poem from the different backgrounds.Let's see.

Hello All.

I have come back to this forum almost after 10 years. It feels really surreal. Things have definitely changed during this period. We graduate from one level to another, from one situation to another. Our views change over the years. We see and observe new things. We take not of few and we forget remaining. I hope to get your feedback. Regards, Rajib

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Originally Posted by Rajib

Hello All.

I have come back to this forum almost after 10 years. It feels really surreal. Things have definitely changed during this period. We graduate from one level to another, from one situation to another. Our views change over the years. We see and observe new things. We take not of few and we forget remaining. I hope to get your feedback. Regards, Rajib

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Your English has improved--not as pigeony--after almost ten years. Perhaps you partook of not a few poets and forgot the rest. Is Wordsworth more sensible now?