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!

Ella abitava fra sentieri infrequentati
Accanto alle sorgenti del Dove
Una fanciulla che non c'era nessuno che la elogiasse
E pochissimi che la amassero.
Una violetta accanto ad una pietra muscosa
Seminascosta alla vista!
Bella come una stella, quando una sola
Sta splendendo nel cielo.
Viveva sconosciuta, e pochi potevano sapere
Quando Lucy morì;
ma è nella sua tomba, e oh,
che differenza fa per me!

Analysis
The poem starts with an introduction to the character: she lives alone and she can have very few relationships with others.
The poet describes "she", that may be an old woman, a young girl or an innocent child with two metaphors, appealing to the image of a half hidden flower, a violet, and to the fair of Venus.
In the end the poet refers to her with the past tense, Lucy (just at the end the name is revealed) has died and the poet wonders about the difference her death makes for him, he notices the importance of that woman only after her death.
The text is arranged into three quatrains. In the first the poet introduces the character, in the second the character is described by metaphors and in the last one the poet confesses the importance of that woman for him, but he does that because she has died.
The poem conveys both the feelings of solitude and ecstasy related the condition of Lucy. The ballad style contributes to create the suspense of a narrative story, the climax increases all over the poem until the turning point at the second line of the last quatrain, when the reader finds out that Lucy has died. He was in love with that woman, but she died alone and he just observed
her life without interfering. The message for the reader lays in the very last sentence, where the poet implicitly warns the reader of the consequences of non-acting: time passes and opportunities fade away before you decide to catch them.