The Solitary Reaper

by William Wordsworth

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Student Question

In which stanza(s) is hyperbole used in "The Solitary Reaper?"

Quick answer:

Hyperbole in "The Solitary Reaper" is evident when the speaker speculates about the meaning of the song. As the song is in an unknown language, the speaker imagines various grand meanings and distant places, leading to exaggerated descriptions. This use of hyperbole highlights the expansive effect the song has on the speaker's imagination, illustrating the song's profound impact and the limitless interpretations it inspires.

Expert Answers

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I think that the best example of hyperbole can be seen when the speaker, presumably Wordsworth, starts to wonder about what the song actually means.  The song is sung in another language, one that is unknown to the speaker.  As meaning is attempted to be assembled, it might be here where the greatest amount of hyperbole is evident.  This is because since the meaning is not necessarily known, there can be no "wrong" enhancement of the song's meaning.  It is in this section of the poem where hyperbole is evident in what the song could mean and in what the lyrics trigger in the mind of the speaker.  In seeing places or envisioning arenas of the world that are so fundamentally distant from the moment where the speaker hears the song, hyperbolic descriptions are employed.  To a great extent, such hyperbole works because the speaker is able to convey how his moral imagination is triggered and how its expansion is such a critical part to the song being sung by this woman in the field.  In the descriptions offered in terms of what the song might mean and in what is initiated in the mind of the speaker, there is much in way of hyperbolic language and experience.

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