She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways – William Wordsworth
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise,
And very few to love.
A Violet by a mossy stone
Half-hidden from the eye!
—Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her Grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways | Facts to Remember
1. The poem has 12 lines, 3 quatrains.
2. Rhyme Scheme – ABAB
3. The poem can be called an elegy as death is grieved and mourned throughout the poem.
4. The poem has a mourning tone( sad and melancholy).
5. Lucy lived among the untrodden ways(secluded life).
6. She lived beside the springs of Dove( The River Dove in England).
7. She was not famous (‘none to praise’
8. She was a maid (unmarried).
9. She was loved by very few people.
10. Lucy is described as violet by a mossy stone.
11. The violet is half hidden from the eye.
12. Lucy is also mentioned as fair as a star.
13. Lucy is fair as a star when there is only one in the sky.
14. Lucy lived unknown.
15. Only few people could know when Lucy died.
16. The theme of the poem- death, loss and loneliness.
17. ‘violet by a mossy stone’ suggests beautiful, simple and unnoticed.
18. ‘Fair as a star’ is a simile.
19. “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” is a contradiction.
20. “She lived unknown and few could know when Lucy ceased to be” is an antithesis.
21. In the third stanza of the poem, the woman is identified as Lucy.
22. “springs of Dove” refers to a river ( river Dove)
23. The phrase “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” implies that Lucy was alone.
24. “fair as a star when only one is shining in the sky” evokes the characteristics of loveliness, solitude and visibility.
25. The other name of the poem is The Lost Love( by F.T. Plagrave in Golden Treasury)
26. The death of Lucy made the poet/speaker morose.
27. The poem uses mostly monosyllabic words.
28. “When Lucy ceased to be”- Assonance
29. “Half hidden from the eye”- Alliteration
30. “A Maid whom there were none to praise”- Consonance
31. “A violet by a mossy stone”- Metaphor
