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The Solitary Reaper
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The Solitary Reaper

poem by Wordsworth
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History

The Solitary Reaper, poem by William Wordsworth, published in 1807 in the collection Poems, in Two Volumes. It is a pastoral snapshot of a young woman working alone in a field in the Highlands of Scotland, singing a plaintive song in Gaelic.

“The Solitary Reaper” is made up of four octaves, primarily written in iambic tetrametre and generally following the rhyme scheme of ababccdd. The narrator is transfixed by the sight and sound of the titular figure, whose arresting voice fills the empty valley. Although he does not understand the language in which she sings, the narrator imagines that her song describes ancient tragedies or personal sorrows.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.