TEXTUAL ANALYSIS PRACTICE

"SHE DWELT AMONG THE UNTRODDEN WAYS"

The title introduces the reader to a "she" who  lives in a hidden place. The poet uses two archaic forms: "dwelt" and "untrodden". The reason for the choice may be that the poem was written a long time ago or the poet wanted to reach only an intellectual reader.

The title creates curiosity since the reader wants to know why the "she" is  hidden and why the poet writes a poem about her.

As regards the lay out, the text is arranged into three stanzas of four lines each and this makes the reader understand the text is a ballad.

In the first stanza there is a speaking voice who says that a lady lived in a distant place:  near the springs of Dover, a river in Scotland. The "she" is a maid, who was not praised, because nobody knew her and only a few people could love her. The function of the first stanza is clearly to introduce the maid and the setting from an external point of view.

In the second quatrain, the poet compares the girl to a violet  near a stone and hidden between the moss and as a consequence, you could hardly see her.

In the same stanza the poet expresses an appreciation and tells the reader that "she" was very nice looking and he says that her beauty was similar to the beauty of a star when only one is shining in the sky. This means that from the speaking voice's point of view she was a precious creature. The function of the second stanza is to convey a very positive idea of the girl through the outline of her personality that made of her a rarity.

In the third stanza the speaking voice tells the reader that very few people knew her and therefore only a few had had the opportunity to meet her. Lucy (this is the name of the maid) died and was buried in a  grave and this makes a great difference for the poet.

The intelligent reader understands that the speaking voice misses her, because she is no longer alive.

The poem is organized mostly in alternate rhyme. The poet uses closed vowel sounds to reinforce the hidden nature of Lucy. The assonance creates an echo effect.  The first stanza ends with a colon to direct the readers attention. In the second quatrain there is a metaphor: the girl is compared to a violet because she is shy and hidden. There is a simile which better describes the girl’s qualities, such as uniqueness and preciousness.

The poem explains that there are people who seem dull but all the same they have hidden qualities.