The Highland girl sings alone while working in the field Her song fills the whole valley with sound and feeling The poet says Behold her single in the field Yon solitary Highland Lass Her voice is sweet and full of emotion The poet does not understand the words yet he feels their sadness and beauty He thinks the song is about old sorrow or simple human pain The poem shows that beauty and emotion can speak directly to the heart without words The poet carries her song in his heart long after it ends He says The music in my heart I bore Long after it was heard no more Thus the poem celebrates the Romantic belief that simple rural life and deep emotion are full of divine beauty Form Meter and Rhyme Scheme The Solitary Reaper is a lyrical poem It is written in four stanzas of eight lines each The rhyme scheme is ababccdd This gives the poem a musical flow The meter is mostly iambic tetrameter This means each line has four beats This steady rhythm matches the calm beauty of the girl s song The musical sound of the lines helps readers feel the peace of nature and the sweetness of the melody Wordsworth uses a simple and natural style This makes the poem easy to read yet full of deep feeling Symbols and Imagery Wordsworth uses beautiful symbols and imagery to make the poem alive and powerful The Highland Girl Symbol of simplicity purity and natural beauty Her Song Symbol of human emotion It connects all people beyond language The Valley or Vale Symbol for the heart that holds the echo of the song The poet compares her song to two famous birds the nightingale and the cuckoo to show its beauty He says A voice so thrilling ne er was heard In spring-time from the Cuckoo-bird These natural images fill the poem with sound peace and life The quiet field the echoing valley and the sad song together create a picture of harmony between nature and human feeling Language and Tone The language of the poem is simple musical and emotional Wordsworth uses soft sounds He uses natural words to match the gentle scene His tone is full of wonder peace and admiration At first he feels surprise and joy seeing the girl Then he becomes quiet and thoughtful He is lost in her song At the end he feels peace and gratitude He carries her melody in his heart The tone changes from curious to peaceful This shows how beauty can touch the soul The Solitary Reaper is one of Wordsworth s best nature poems It shows the Romantic ideals of beauty emotion and love for nature The Highland girl her lonely song and the quiet valley together create a picture of peace and purity The poem teaches that real beauty lives in simple life and true feelings not in wealth or fame Wordsworth captures this beauty perfectly and makes it eternal through this poem