The aim of this text is the textual analysis of the poem "She Dwelt amoung the Untrodden Ways" by William Wordsworth, in order to deduce the poet's message and to conclude with my personal considerations.

The title itself creates expectations on the reader. In fact, it invites curiosity about the identity of the “she”, the reason why she lived there, the reason why she doesn’t live there yet and, finally, what the “Untrodden Ways” are like. Reading the title, the reader's attention is captured by the word "dwelt", which belongs to an archaic language. The purpose of the poet with the introduction of this term is to increase the reader's curiosity about the identity of the mysterious girl and to continue reading.

As for the way words look on the page, the text is arranged into three quatrains, where the lines are of different length. This layout allows the poet to divide the text by topics. Therefore, each stanza has its own specific function within the text. The first stanza is functional to the poet to introduce the identity of the “She”, who is described as a “maid”, referring to her young age. Due to she lives near the “springs of Dove” in Scotland, a hidden place in close contact with nature, she is both physically and spiritually distant from the others, and is loved and appreciated by few people. More information about the physical appearance of the girl are given in the second stanza, where the poet describes her beauty and purity with a comparison with a violet and a star. His judgment on the girl is fully positive. The complete identity of the “She” is revealed only in the last stanza, to give to the reader a reason to go on reading the poem until the end. There, the reader’s curiosity is finally satisfied with the discovery of the girl’s name, Lucy. The importance she has for the poet is expressed through the emotions he feels after her death. Other people are not aware of it, but the poet does and this makes a great difference for him.

Moving now on with a more detailed connotative analysis, the poem is rich in monosyllabic words, which are functional to confer emphasis on the reading of each word. An eco-effect can also be recognized in the whole poem, in order to communicate the poet’s emotions linked to his memory of the girl and to make the reader move. With the same function, the poet introduces frequent exclamations in keys positions. The reader cannot but-noticed the sweetness in the tone used by the poet, a sign of a deep bound between him and Lucy, as well as a sense of melancholy due to the girl’s premature and solitary death. To convey this effect, long vowels sounds and frequent alliterations of the letters “s” and “h” are used. They are also functional to emphasize the idea of vast and distant place where Lucy lives unknown. This idea is reinforced by the use of words like: “untrodden”, “none”, “very few”, “half hidden”, “only one” and “unknown”. They increase the mystery around the girl’s identity, which is revealed only in the last stanza, where the reader’s curiosity is finally satisfied. Particularly relevant is the girl’s name, which is not chosen by case. It invites the reader to think about light. Lucy brings light in the poet’s life, despite her shyness, highlighted by the metaphor of the violet by a mossy stone. Lucy has not the courage to make visible her beauty and live in contact with other people. For this reason she decides to hide her identity and live unknown. Her farness is also convey trough the simile with the star, because human beings cannot reach the stars. Furthermore, the idea that Lucy is the only one who is shining in the sky confirm that she is the symbol of light, and also stands for her preciousness and purity. It follows that the description and the judgment on the girl are fully positive. As for the semantic choice, the figures used belongs to the semantic field of nature, suggesting Lucy lives in close contact with it.

With this poem, the poet wants to explain what are the effects that loneliness, death and affection cause in human beings and how they are felt in them. Starting from the first one, it is referred to the hidden life of Lucy recognized by terms like “unknown” and “half hidden”. Through the reading, the reader understands that Lucy has chosen a solitude life on purpose, to hide her identity. Because of her shyness, she is unable to make herself visible and to live in the society. This choice has certainly brought her to innumerable sufferings, because a life without affection is not life. Lucy, like all human beings, needs to have contacts and to interact with others. However, she is not able to overcome her fears and to appear in society. I know many people who feels like Lucy. Their insecurity of their qualities makes them feel unfit to be with others. They have the feeling of having something wrong, obviously mistakenly. They do not recognize their real preciousness, even if they are appreciated by people, just like Lucy is appreciated by the poet, the only one who has had the opportunity to have contacts with her. This, in my opinion, means that shy people does not need to be scared of the judgment of others, or of saying something wrong because they are perfect just the way they are. Analyzing the themes of love and affection, they are the only two forces that can console man and make him feel appreciated and precious, in the poem as well as in real life. The poet highlights his affection towards Lucy with the desperation he feels after her death and with the fully positive description that he makes of her. The power of love overcomes distance and loneliness, and fills the emptiness within us. It unites people who are geographically separated and, in some way, it makes us unique. It cannot be destroyed even by death. Despite Lucy's premature death, the poet equally transmits the affection he felt for her and which he still feels. However, his feeling will always be mixed with melancholy because he feels regret for not being able to prevent Lucy's death. It is common among human beings to think that they could have avoided a past loss, and to wonder why that person could not live. But an answer cannot be really found, what we have found is only the awareness that death is inevitable. The pain experienced is even wider if the death is premature. It is assumed that the young still have their whole life ahead and, therefore, their death appears even more unjust. This is the condition of Lucy, dead when she was a "maid".