The title immediately draws the attention, due to the use of two rather remote words (dwelt; untrodden). This might man the poem was written a long time ago or that the poet wanted to draw the attention of the reader on language itself. The two words are not only unusual: they are also the longest in the title. The text seems to refers to a ‘she': this might mean that she might been an old woman, a young girl or an innocent child. The reader doesn't know yet and it might been interested in finding it out. In addition he should be curious to discover why the ‘she' lives or has chosen to live in hidden places.

The poem is arranged into three quatrains: the structure might make think of a ballad, also because the rhymes are alternate. In fact, ballads were organized in quatrains and the alternate rhymes were necessary in order to being handed down orally.
The first stanza has an introductive function. The poet gives information about the place in which the ‘she' lives and her way of life: she is always alone in hidden places near "the springs of Dove". These circumstances -together with the omission of precise geographical indications- might make imagine an idyllic atmosphere. In the third line the poet tells the ‘she' is a "maid": it means that she could be a young lady, or a spinster. In this case she might live in an "untrodden way" because she feels ashamed and wants to stay away from society. Another back-up for this thesis is that "there were none to praise" her.
In the second stanza the poet underlines her isolated life of the maid with a metaphor, in which she is compared to a "violet", because their features are similar: both stand in a marginal position and -as a consequence- are difficult to find out. This figure of speech is stressed by the presence of many vowels and
of three diphthongs in the words "violet", "by" and "eye". In the second part of the stanza, the simile of the star represents the uniqueness of the lady for the poet.

In the third stanza the reader finally finds out what the maid's name is, Lucy. She was so alone, that nobody knows when she dies. But she was very important for the poet, even if the reader can't know why.