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Poetry Analysis (3-01)

She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways

William Wordsworth

1. Summary
She lived close to the Dove River's source in central England, a secluded area where few
people ever set foot. She was a young, single woman who didn't receive the love and
respect she deserved throughout her life. It was difficult to fully see and comprehend her
since she was like a violet next to a large mossy stone; as a result, her delicate beauty was
frequently masked by bigger, more visible things. She was just as lovely as a star that
shines alone in the night sky. Few people were aware of this young woman, named Lucy,
after she passed away because she was unknown to them when she was alive. I must
admit that the fact that she is dead and buried in the ground has had a profound emotional
impact on me.

2. History
When Wordsworth was 28 years old while touring Germany with his sister, the poet
Dorothy Wordsworth, she came up with the idea for "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden
Ways." Although "She Dwelt" first appeared in the second, 1800 edition of the book,
Wordsworth and his close friend Samuel Taylor Coleridge published Lyrical Ballads
together in the same year. It is usually believed that Lyrical Ballads gave the English
Romantic movement its start. Wordsworth wrote the majority of its poetry, and Coleridge
contributed four (though to be fair, his most famous, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is
pretty long). The authors of Lyrical Ballads honored nature by portraying how it affects
human emotion and self-awareness. Wordsworth characterizes the poem as "the
 spontaneous overflow of feelings" that "takes its start from emotion recollected in
serenity" in the preface to the 1800 edition.
Wordsworth's "great decade," which some critics regard to as the years when he produced
the most valuable work, began in 1798. Wordsworth wrote the remaining four poems that
are included in the collection known as the "Lucy Poems" while on that same journey to
Germany with his sister. They are "She Dwelt," "Strange Fits of Passion I have Known,"
"I Travelled among Unknown Men," "Three Years She Grew," and "A Slumber Did my
Spirit Steal." All but the last of these songs specifically reference Lucy. Some have
suggested that Lucy represented Dorothy; others have suggested that Lucy represented
Wordsworth's muse (or generalized source of inspiration); still others have suggested that
Lucy represented Peggy Hutchinson, a childhood friend who passed away young and
whose sister Wordsworth eventually married. However, Wordsworth never
acknowledged the connection between the works, and when questioned about who Lucy
might stand for, he remained silent.

3. Symbols (Star)
The star from verse two of "She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways" performs a lot of
symbolic work, serving as a general metaphor for all the character attributes that the
speaker employs to characterize Lucy. Overall, the star serves as a symbol for undeniable
yet indescribable beauty. It first stands for Lucy's attractiveness. The word "Fair," which
in its antique connotation denotes beauty, is used by the speaker to describe the star. The
star's fairness is due, at least in part, to its alone; it is stunning because it is the "only one"
in the sky. Since Lucy is depicted as living "among untrodden ways"—basically, in a
remote rural area—and having few to admire or love her, the star also alludes to her
solitude, reminding the reader of much of stanza 1.

The single sparkling star is delicate as well. If its solitude makes it beautiful, that beauty
will quickly fade as the sky fills with stars. This delicateness or fragility brings to mind
the description of Lucy as a violet next to a moss-covered stone—a small, attractive
flower flourishing in the edge of a large, hairy rock—which was stated just before.
Finally, the star identifies a contradiction in Lucy's statements. The speaker refers to
 Lucy as a "Maid" in stanza 1, which in addition to expressing youth and beauty also, in
its archaic connotation, denotes that Lucy is a virgin. Later on, Lucy is referred to as
"unknown," which, in archaic terms, also signified virginal.

4. Images
This poem has some intricate, rarely seen natural images to complement Lucy's beauty
and nature. Metaphors like "springs of Dove" and "violet by a mossy stone" are some of
the complex ones that we often do not encounter in many poetry. These analogies aid in
our comprehension of the poet's individuality and expression of love for her. By the
poem's end, Wordsworth has expressed his sadness and depression over Lucy's passing,
but the other characters have not been impacted by her departure.

5. Figurative Language
 There are certain words linked to metaphorical language in William Wordsworth's
poem "She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways." "A violet by a mossy stone" is
the second stanza's line (line 1). This sentence uses metaphor as figurative
language. In that passage, the word "violet" contrasts Lucy with Violet. When
compared to Lucy, "a violet" is a gorgeous flower, therefore the poem's
description of Lucy as a beautiful woman is automatic. And in "A Mossy Stone,"
Lucy was also compared, and it was said that her beauty was obstructed by her
lack of freedom to display it. The poet spoke to Lucy's inner beauty when
describing her outer attractiveness.
 "Fair as a star, when there is just one gleaming in the sky," continues the second
stanza (line 7 and 8). Simile is the figurative language that is related to it. Even
though no one knew Lucy, she stressed her struggle with loneliness. She is
defined as being more than just a single flower (violet), and she differs from the
sun, which is the only star that dominates the daily sky, by passively reflecting
sunlight. Her demeanor embodied the rarity and beauty.

6. Tone & Theme

 The poet shows sorrow, sadness, and a somber tone with the revelation of Lucy’s death.
The primary themes of this poem are loss, death, and the transience of existence. The
poet praises and describes his deceased lover and this exquisite work capture the poet's
profound sadness and excruciating pain at losing his beloved.

7. Meter
The 12-line poem uses iambic trimeter (three iambs, six syllables) in its even-numbered
lines and iambic tetrameter (four iambs each line, for a total of eight syllables) in its odd-
numbered lines. English ballads frequently have this alternating iambic tetrameter and
trimeter pattern. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which
appeared in the same book as "She Dwelt," for instance, uses the same meter. The meter
is perfect for the majority of the lines. The poem moves along smoothly and with obvious
iambs (da DUM). This constant meter gives the piece the feel of a nursery rhyme when
combined with the AB rhyme pattern. The few deviations from uniformity, nevertheless,
are noteworthy, and they begin with line 1, which is noteworthy for two connected
reasons. One, there is an additional syllable (nine instead of eight). Two, depending on
how the reader pronounces "untrodden," it can be read using one of two meters.

She dwelt among the untrodden ways

The first method is as follows: "Untrodden" moves stressed, unstressed, stressed. The line
continues in the provided meter up to "untrodden." Untrodden throws off the meter and
makes a scene. And it's crucial that it does since the poem's essential term, "untrodden,"
alludes to Lucy's lonesomeness, mystique, and pristine, undiscovered beauty. Its meter is
worth reflecting on because it is a word with so much to offer. Another way to interpret
the statement is as follows:

She dwelt among the untrodden ways

The line's effect is only minimally changed by where the tension is located in untrodden.
The word "un-" with a negative prefix is highlighted in the first. The focus in the second
is on the action word "trod." While grieving in the poem what didn't happen while Lucy
was alive, the speaker also uses the poem as an opportunity to actively fill Lucy's
unoccupied space via memory-trodden (or walked). The speaker departs from the meter
once more in line 6.

Half hidden from the eye!

Despite the fact that this line uses iambic trimeter, the word "hidden" sort of obscures it.
The initial syllable of the word is emphasized, but it wouldn't sound right to draw it out to
completely finish the iamb that "Half" started. A fast two-syllable phrase that is
concealed quickly erupts in sound. This line, which represents that enigmatic quality
about Lucy, defies the metrical pattern into which it initially appears to fit. The next line
also deviates from metrical conventions while describing Lucy.

—Fair as a star, when only one

Instead of an iamb, the first foot is a trochee (DA dum) in this instance (da DUM). Even
though the remaining syllables restore the standard, one off foot can make a big
difference in a line this short. In this instance, the word "Fair," which alludes to Lucy's
beauty, is highlighted. Fair, star, on-, and one are the line's stressed words and syllables.
The point of the line is quite evident. Nobody is as fair as Lucy was (or is, according to
the speaker's memory). The very final line is the one that deserves special attention:

The dif- | ference | to me!

This line is strictly iambic, so there is nothing strange going on, but the meter does offer
"different" in a manner that ordinary speech does not. Unless the speaker is competing in
a simple spelling bee or wants to look sophisticated, "difference" is often pronounced as
two syllables. Here, one of the most significant words in the poem is given credit for each
of its syllables. The speaker feels its pain as the meter stretches it out, and the reader
should think about what the word actually means in this context.
8. Rhyme
The rhyme pattern of "She Dwelt among the Uncommon Ways" is simple
ABAB
However, it should be observed that the rhyming sounds vary between each stanza in order to be
as clear as possible. The poem's structure can be properly portrayed here because it is brief:
ABAB CDCD EFEF
This straightforward structure lends the poem a nursery-rhyme aspect that is appropriate to its
subject matter, as though Lucy, a "Maid," lived by herself in a kingdom of fairies. A few changes,
however, prevent the reader from falling asleep as a result of faultless, regular rhymes. For
instance, "stone" does not completely rhyme with "one" in one instance of slant rhyme. Stone
establishes the rhyme because it comes first. As a result, "[O]ne" is accountable for breaking it.
One gets the blame; it deserves the blame as a term that highlights both Lucy's solitude and her
singular attractiveness.
The word "one," which rhymes across the line with "none" from verse 1, is likewise highlighted
by internal rhyme. This association would appear to emphasize the speaker's function in the
poem. No one praised Lucy while she was alive. However, the poetry is undoubtedly a type of
adoration, and the speaker is the only one to blame. With it, the speaker appears to be atoning for
not having cherished Lucy enough during her lifetime. Although "one" alludes to the star and
afterwards Lucy, it brings to mind one of the poem's primary ideas: Lucy's beauty and morality
will have mattered and will continue to matter as long as there is one person to admire them.