NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 8 The Solitary Reaper

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 8 The Solitary Reaper is part of NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English. Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 8 The Solitary Reaper.

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Literature Chapter 8 The Solitary Reaper

TEXTUAL EXERCISES
(Page 69)

Question 1.
Sometimes we see something beautiful and striking, and we remember it for a long time afterwards. Can you recollect this ever happening to you ? If so, what was it ? What do you remember about it now ? Are the details of what you saw or the feelings you experienced at the time fresh in your mind ? Think for a few minutes, then share your thoughts with the class.
Answer
To be attempted individually at class level. However, one Sample Answer is given for the guidance of the students.
Yes, such a thing happened to me. I remembered it for a long time afterwards. I once visited the Taj Mahal in the month of October with my parents. It was a moonlit night. A pleasant and scented breeze was making the place lovely. I stood before the Taj in the moonlit night. I was greatly thrilled to see its beauty at that moment.

I forgot about myself for some moments. The whiteness reflected by it looked fairylike. The grassy lawns in front of it added to its glory and grace. The building looked simply superb and magical. The feelings were indescribable. These were similar to those when one gets a thing which is most sought after. Even when I had left the place, I carried the imprint of the beauty of Taj in my heart. It is still fresh in my heart like Wordsworth’s ‘Daffodils’. I can’t forget it.

Question 2.
Listen to one of William Wordsworth’s poems, that describes a memorable experience he had while out on a walk. (Your teacher will play a recording.) Listen to the poem at least twice.
Answer
For attempt at class level. No question is asked in it.

Question 3.
Now Read the poem.
Answer
Read the poem yourself.

Question 4.
Imagine that you are the poet, William Wordsworth. You continue on your walk, and when you reach home you tell a friend what you saw and felt. Which of the following best describes your experience ? (Work in pairs, then have a class discussion.)
Answer
Meant for class level. The correct answer is (c).

Question 5.
The poet could not understand the words of the song, yet he raised several possibilities about its theme. In the diagram below are some of these possibilities. Read the third stanza again, and find the phrase that matches each. Copy and complete the diagram, writing each phrase in the empty boxes. Work in pairs.
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Answer
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Question 6.
On the basis of your understanding of the poem, answer the following questions by ticking the correct choice :
(a) The central idea of the poem ‘The Solitary Reaper’ is ______

1. well sung songs give us happiness
2. melodious sounds appeal to all
3. beautiful experiences give us life-long pleasure
4. reapers can sing like birds

(b) In the poem ‘The Solitary Reaper’ to whom does the poet say ‘Stop here or gently pass’ ?

1. to the people cutting corn
2. to himself
3. to the people who make noise
4. to all the passers by

(c) ‘The Solitary Reaper’ is a narrative poem set to music. This form of verse is called a ______

1. ballad
2. soliloquy
3. monologue
4. sonnet

(d) The poet’s lament in the poem ‘The Solitary Reaper’ is that ______

1. he cannot understand the song
2. he did not know the lass
3. she stopped singing at once
4. he had to move away

(e) The setting of the poem is ______

1. Arabia
2. Hebrides
3. Scotland
4. England

Answer
(a) 3
(b) 2
(c) 1
(d) 2
(e) 3

Question 7.
1. Read the second stanza again, in which Wordsworth compares the solitary reaper’s song with the song of the nightingale and the cuckoo. On the basis of your reading (and your imagination), copy and complete the table below. (Work in groups of four, then have a brief class discussion.)

2. Why do you think Wordsworth has chosen the song of the nightingale and the cuckoo, for comparison with the solitary reaper’s song ?
3. As you read the second stanza, what pictures come to your mind ? Be ready to describe them in your own words, to the rest of the class. (Do not be afraid to go beyond what the poet has written.)
Answer
1.

2. Wordsworth has chosen the songs of the nightingale and the cuckoo knowingly. It is because these are the sweetest and most refreshing of all the songs of the birds. By comparing these, the poet wants to say that the solitary reaper’s song was simply incomparable to those of the nightingale or the cuckoo-bird. Her song was sweeter than theirs.
3. Yes, I am able to see mental pictures of the places. Their description is like this :

1. It is a vast desert. The sun is raining fire. I see a group of mentally and physically tired travellers. They are walking with difficulty over the sand dunes. They are in search of some oasis. Soon they find one and reach there. Then they listen to the melodious song of the nightingale coming to them from somewhere. They feel thrilled. Their tiredness disappears with the effect of the song.
2. It is the spring time. There lie Hebrides islands. They are situated at far north¬east of Scotland. There is complete silence surrounding the place. Soon a ship appears circling the islands. The sailors decide to anchor there. They, then, listen to the song of the cuckoo bird coming to them from somewhere. It thrills them. They feel excited and decide to stay there for the night. The place becomes a heaven of joy for them due to the song of the cuckoo-bird.

Question 8.
In the sixth line of the first stanza, we read:
“… and sings a melancholy strain….”
This “s” sound at the beginning of sings and strain has been repeated. Poets often do this. Do you know why ? Do you know what this “poetic repetition” is called ? Can you find other instances of this, in The Solitary Reaper ?
Answer
Yes, poets often repeat the sound of different words. It is done so as to add to the music and lyricism of a poem. This repetition is called ‘alliteration’ in poetical terms.
There are other such instances in The Solitary Reaper. These are as follows :

1. Repetition of T sound in → Yon solitary Highland Lass’
2. Repetition of‘s’ sound in → silence of the Seas/Among the farthest Hebrides’
3. Repetition of T sound in → ‘plaintive numbers flow’
4. Repetition of ‘1’ sound in → ‘listened, motionless and still’.

Note : Students may themselves pick out such phrases from the text.

Question 9.
In the first stanza, some words or phrases have been used to show that the girl working in the fields is alone. Which are those words and phrases ? What effect do they create in the mind of the reader ?
Answer
These words are :
Yon solitary Highland lass, single (in the field), Reaping and singing by herself, Stop here, gently pass, Alone she cuts…,
The effect which these words create is that of beauty and mystery. ‘Beauty’ because the entire scene of the solitary reaper looks like a mounted painting in the backdrop of a hill. ‘Mystery’ because there is no one near the solitary lass. She seems to be all ‘magic’. Her song adds beauty to the entire scene.

Question 10.
Wordsworth was so moved by this experience that later he wrote this poem. Think back in your own life and try to recall an experience that affected you greatly and left a deep impact on you. Then write a poem for your school magazine in which you describe that experience and its impact.
Answer
For self-attempt.

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