"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!

The first words creating curiosity in  the reader are “dwelt" and " untrodden”, two archaic words. The poem might deal with a lady or a girl. Another question the reader should pose is “what makes the SHE live in untrodden places?”. The title immediately draws the attention due to the use of two rather remoted words. This might mean the poem was written a long time ago or that the poet wanted to draw the reader’s attention on language itself. The two words are not only remoted: they are also the longest in the title. The text seems to refer to a she: this might mean the she may be an old woman, a young girl or an innocent child. The reader doesn’t know yet he might be interested to find it out. The poem is composed of three stanzas: three quatrains that allow to understand the kind of which the text belongs and the level of complexity that this presents in the understanding. By the number of stanzas that compose it and by their being formed by four lines each one, you can imagine that the text on analysis is a ballad. Because the ballad is a popular genre, that is written for the people, and therefore it has to be understood by all, the language with which it is written will be simple and easy to understand. Each of the stanzas in which the poem is divided plays a specific role: the first is the general introduction of the woman mentioned in the first verse and the place where she lived; and the second gives a brief the description of the figure; while the third describes the impact of his death on her surroundings and ends with of the narrator an intrusion. On the denotative level the reader manage to understand that the poet is missing a lady, named Lucy, who is dead unremembered. Even if she hadn't a great personality and beauty, he wants to remember her by recalling his memories. Perhaps he was in love with her, but surely he liked her very much. In the first part the speaking voice introduce the lady: she stays besides Dove during the springtime and she work as a maid. The narrator describes her like a not very special person, she hadn't to be praised and she isn't completely loveable. The poet compares her to a beautiful flower, a violet, half covered by an ugly mossy stone, or to a sky with only one fair star. Her beauty isn't divine or complete, it's restricted in some way. In the last part the author reveals the solitude of Lucy and her death known only by a few person. He suffers a lot both for the missing and for the indifference of people.