Wordsworth's "She Dwelt Among..."

[Anthony Furze]

In the poem "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" is Wordsworth emphasizing Lucy"s uniqueness or her remoteness from everyday life?
What is the reason for the choice of words "ceased to be"?
How far are we meant to understand Lucy as a real human person- or is she fantasy?

[The Unnamable]

In the poem "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" is Wordsworth emphasizing Lucy"s uniqueness or her remoteness from everyday life?
What is the reason for the choice of words "ceased to be"?
How far are we meant to understand Lucy as a real human person- or is she fantasy?
What do you mean by “remoteness from everyday life”?
There is an emphasis on the isolated nature of Lucy’s life and her insignificance to the rest of the world.
Wordsworth compares her to a violet. These are considered ‘shy’ flowers (I assume this is why the expression ‘blushing violet’ is sometimes used) because they hide beneath other foliage.

Her death goes by as unnoticed as her life, except by the poet. The simple outburst in the last line makes his anguish seem all the more poignant and real. His grief is effectively suggested through the use of that ordinary little word ‘difference’. To others, Lucy’s death meant nothing; to Wordsworth it meant everything.

Firstly, “ceased to be” sounds much nicer than “popped her clogs”. :D ‘ceased’ does give more of a sense of something that was there suddenly being there no longer than simply saying ‘died’ would. “to be” is the verb I learned to conjugate before all others in all of the languages I have failed to master. Think about what difference it would make had Wordsworth written “ceased to live”.

I seem to remember one of my lecturers telling me that Lucy was probably a real person whom Wordsworth knew in his youth, but she could be an invention of his imagination. She does come across as rather ethereal but that’s possibly because of the way he has chosen to emphasise her remoteness, simple beauty and simultaneous insignificance and importance.

[Anthony Furze]

And what about that "Dove"? Symbolic? A river?
Who is among the "very few"-more than just the poet?
Is the mossy stone symbolic?
And what is Wordsworth thinking of when he mentions only one star ?
Thanks for the reply.

[The Unnamable]

And what about that "Dove"? Symbolic? A river?
Both, I think. What if the river were called something else?


Who is among the "very few"-more than just the poet?
I don’t think this needs to be pinned down – Wordsworth obviously includes himself but the effect is once again to emphasise her isolation and want of appreciation.


Is the mossy stone symbolic?
Of what? Death? I assume there is a suggestion. Moss is associated with the passing of time and usually grows on gravestones.


And what is Wordsworth thinking of when he mentions only one star ?
I don’t know that he had any particular star in mind but sometimes, on a clear night, you can see a lone star that appears to be the only one shining. To Wordsworth she is the only star in the sky; there are no others around.

[sybilline]

In "She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways", Wordsworth emphasizes Lucy's uniqueness and her radiance, when he compares her to a star shining in the sky. Even if she lived hidden, unseen and unknown by the rest of people, she lighted up the sky (and the poet's life). In a sense, the poet would like to show her power of love, the intensity of this love, even if it was shared by "very few". She seems to be a real person, not a fantasy in the poet's mind, since he says that she "is in her grave", a strong and sad image, which stresses that from now on Lucy's power has ceased to be. So, what a difference for the poet !

[sybilline]

Is Lucy a real person or a fantasy in the poet's mind ? Any way, in the poem, the only living person is the poet himself, since he always used the preterit. May be she has been created by the poet's imagination or has been really beloved. But the aim of the poem seems the impact of death on him, stressed by the exclamative form, the vocative form and the appearance of the first person "me", the last word of the poem, which rhymes with "be". This unsolved duality between life (me) and death (ceased to be) creates a kind of gap and split materialized by the word "difference". It is not really an opposition, but as if the poet were suffering something like death, even if it is "different".

[unpredictable00]

hey people can anybody tell me, what is meant by "untrodden ways"??
thxx!!