Commentary on poem "She dwelt among the untrodden ways" by Wordsworth

Grief is a topic that has always been addressed by poets especially during romanticism because it appeals to deep emotions such as nostalgia and love. Set back into the Romantic Age, the poem “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” exemplifies the grieving love of Wordsworth for the dead Lucy. We will analyse how the poet conveys his fondness for Lucy throughout this elegy by describing her uniqueness beauty.

To begin with, Lucy’s uniqueness is defined by the pastoral surroundings. Indeed, the poem takes place in a natural environment: “beside the springs of Dove”. The “springs”, representing a source of water, suggest a harmonious and tranquil landscape. Moreover, the “Dove” symbolises peacefulness and purity as well as the messenger of love. The crossed rhymes also hint at the ebb and flow of water through their alternate rhythm (ABAB). Therefore, this idyllic background implicitly illustrates Lucy’s personality since she is placed “beside” it and earlier “among the untrodden ways”. Lucy is then introduced as a calm and innocent character. Nature is used to portray Lucy’s unique beauty and importance to the poet.

Following with this natural setting, the poet uses a metaphor: “a violet by a mossy stone” to depict her singular beauty. Here, Lucy is being compared to the “violet”, which means in flower language modesty, harmony. Thus, Lucy is portrayed as humble. The “violet” also stands for death, as people traditionally put violets on graves. Consequently, this element is foreshadowing her death at the end of the poem. In addition, the flower is located “by a mossy stone”. This placement discloses how her beauty is hidden. This idea is reinforced by the lexical field of remoteness and loneliness throughout the poem: “untrodden”; “whom they were none to praise”; “very few to love”; “unknown”. On top of that, the following line emphasises this subtle beauty: “half hidden from the eye”. Indeed, the [h] alliteration on “half hidden” and the exclamation mark show the distress of the poet because no one sees her beauty. As a result, Lucy’s grace is defined as rare to the poet’s eyes and under-appreciated from people.

Then, not only Lucy is compared to a natural element but also a universe element: “Fair as a star” to emphasise Lucy’s speciality. This comparison outshines her, especially because “only one is shining in the sky”. This contrast between the dull sky and this shining star is striking. It shows her uniqueness. Moreover, this singularity is highlighted by the uncommon eye-rhyme with [stone] and [one]. Furthermore, “Lucy” comes from the Latin name “Lucius” which means “light”. Overall, the embodiment of Lucy as a star and the light she reflects shows how unique her beauty is to the poet.

Next, the lyrism is used to prove her singularity from the poet’s view. Several hints about the poet’s feelings for Lucy were left in the poem. Nevertheless, they were all implicit. For instance, in the first stanza, the understatement “and very few to love” could indicate that the poet loves her. Therefore/However, at the end of the poem, Wordsworth unveils his feelings openly for the first time. Indeed, the last line “The difference to me!” establishes the lyrical aspect of the poem thanks to the personal pronoun “me” standing for Wordsworth. Thus, we see that he is nostalgic

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