"SHE DWELT AMONG THE UNTRODDEN WAYS"
       

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; 10
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!

William Wordsworth - 1799.

The poem “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” was written by William Wordsworth.
The title immediately draws the attention due to the use of two remote words ”dwelt”and “untrodden”.  This might mean the poem was written a long time ago or that the poet wanted to draw the attention of the reader on the language that he used. In fact the two words are not only remote but they are also the longest in the title.
The text seems to talks to a “she”, who we don’t know if she is an old woman, a young girl or an innocent child. In addition the writer should be interested why the “she” lives or has chosen to live in hidden places.
the poem is composed into three stanzas organized into quatrains, so this poem is a ballad Lines have different length and it has alternate rhymes.
 In the first stanza, the narrator gives the reader some information about the protagonist. Especially he tells the place where she lives “beside the springs of Dove”, but the expression isn’t clear, infact the reader can’t know what place the poet is talking about, so this is a special place. A place only known by very few person or only by him and the “she”. Besides the mystery place connotes the woman, so she appears mysterious and know by few or maybe only by the narrator. Then the narrator tells us more information about she: he use the remote word “Maid”, this could confirm that the poem was written long time ago. “maid” stand for a woman, who isn’t married. Besides the narrator write the M of Maid in capital letter so the reader’s attention focus on this word because the lady is the only one to the narrator. In the following lines, the narrator tells that the lady has a very few relationships, but he does not explain why so he raises the reader’s interest and curiosity and incite him to go on reading.
 In the second quatrain the narrator uses two metaphors for describe her beauty and grace: the first one deals with flowers “violet by a mossy stone”, the second one with stars (the Sun, because it is the only star in the sky when it shines).
In the last stanza the narrator tells the maid’s name: Lucy. The past tense used in the first line strengthened by the expression “when” focus the reader’s attention and suggests him that Lucy might be dead. This hypothesis is confirmed in the second line, where the narrator tells that the lady died.
The words “lived”, “ceased” and “grave” make the tone is dramatic and the atmosphere. Besides the narrator is sad highlighted by the expression “oh” so he is stricken with remorse because he watched her dying and he deeply regrets having done nothing.
 the message that the narrator wants to communicate is that people should do or try to do  something before it’s too late.