In the following text I am going to analyze William Wordsworth’s poem “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” to discover the poet’s message after a careful analysis of the text.

The title invites the reader to go on reading the poem in order to discover who the “She” is, her features, as well as the reason why the woman lived in a far place, that is not usually attended by a lot of people. The reader understands also that the language used by the poet is partly archaic, because nowadays the word “dwelt” is not used and it has been replaced by the word “live”. The use of old-fashioned words increases the curiosity in the reader to find out more about the girl.

Considering lay-out, the reader discovers that the text is a poem, because it is arranged into three quatrains, that are stanzas of four lines each, where the lines are of different length. Moreover the text is written in alternate rhyme. The reader wonders what the reasons of the presence of three different stanzas are.

After a first reading, the reader understands why the author has divided the text in this way, because each stanza has its own role. The first stanza is used to introduce the figure of the woman, who lives in an unexplored place in Scotland besides the spring of the river Dove. The lady is alone, nobody praises and loves her. In the second quatrain, the poet expresses the beauty of the woman. Wordsworth makes a comparison and a judgement that are both fully positive. The poet invites the reader to recognize the precious quality of the girl, her beauty, even if it is not clearly visible. The name of the woman is still unknown and this is another reason for the reader to go on reading to discover the real identity of the girl. In the last stanza the reader discovers finally her name. She is called Lucy and she is now in a grave and this touches the poet. It is clear that the woman was very important for Wordsworth.

Moving now on with the connotative analysis, the reader realizes that the poem is rich in sound devices and figures of speech. As regards sound devices the reader realizes the presence of an echo-effect that can be found in the whole poem. The writer uses it to communicate his emotions linked to the memory of the girl. For this reason he frequently uses exclamations marks in key positions, at the end of the line, to communicate emotional effect to the reader. Also the use of vowel sounds, alliterations and assonances, that are present in quite all lines, creates the rhythm, the musicality and the idea of a far place where the lady lives unknown. These devices and the use of some expressions like “untrodden”, “only one” and “unknown” contributes to increase the curiosity in the reader, that is satisfied only in the last stanza, where the poet unveils the name and the identity of the girl. Her name is important, because Lucy implies the word “light” and so she is a bringer of light in the poet’s life. Another sound device used frequently is run-on-line, that creates the musicality and makes the poem fluid. As regards figures of speech, the poet uses a metaphor and a simile in the second stanza. The first device is used to underline that the woman has not got the courage to make herself visible, like a small violet hidden by a mossy stone. The second one creates a positive idea of beauty and conveys the distance between the poet and her, after her death. Both the devices conveys the idea of uniqueness and preciousness of the woman. As regards semantic choices, the poet uses a lot of words linked to the natural world, such as springs, violet, mossy stone, star and sky. The use of a lot a words linked to the nature is caused probably by the historic period in which the author lives, the Romantic period, between the end of 18^th century and the beginning of the 19^th century, that was characterized by the strong role that belongs to the Nature in the relationship with humans, whose emotions and feelings are influenced by it.

In conclusion the reader understands what the most important themes of the poem are. They are death, loneliness and love. The first one is present when the writer says at the end of the text that Lucy is now dead, the second one is presented by the description of the woman, that lives alone until her death and the last one is present when the poet says that the woman is important and precious for him, especially after her death.