William Wordsworth (1770–1850)

The Solitary Reaper 1807

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, 5

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 10

Of travelers in some shady haunt

Among Arabian sands.

A voice so thrilling ne’er was heard

In springtime from the cuckoo-bird,

Breaking the silence of the seas 15

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. 20

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 25

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, 30

The music in my heart I bore

Long after it was heard no more.