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?
Poets do this to add a musical quality to their poems.
This ‘poetic repetition’ is called ‘alliteration’.
Other instances of alliteration in the poem are:
“Silence of the seas”
“Among Arabian”