She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways

“She dwelt among the untrodden ways” is a short lyric poem written by the English poet William Wordsworth in 1798. It first appeared as “Song” in the second edition of Lyrical Ballads (1800), the collection of poems written by Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge that heralded the Romantic movement.

Generally referred to by its first line, this poem is one of five grouped together as “the Lucy poems” (1798-1801), which center on the speaker’s feelings regarding the death of the beloved but mysterious Lucy, a beautiful young woman who lives in the English countryside and dies in her youth. While there has been much speculation about whether there was a real-life counterpart to Lucy, critical consensus does agree that she serves the function of poetic muse within the texts. The Lucy poems were written early in Wordsworth’s career, and he considered them part of the Romantic experiment, as noted in his 1800 essay “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads” (See: Further Reading & Resources).

Wordsworth was a preeminent poet of the time period, who wrote most of his major poetry—including “Lines Written a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” (1798), and “Ode on Intimations of Immortality” (1804)—before age 35. He also served as Britain’s Poet Laureate from 1843 to 1850. Wordsworth’s masterwork is widely considered to be The Prelude, which began as a poem for Coleridge, was revised multiple times, and was published posthumously by Wordsworth’s widow in 1850. Wordsworth is considered the father of Romanticism and the Lucy poems serve as excellent examples of the Romantic lyric.

Poet Biography

William Wordsworth was born on April 7, 1770, to John and Ann Cookson Wordsworth. He was the second of five children. The Wordsworths lived in Cockermouth, England, in the region known as the Lake District. Wordsworth was close to his only sister, Dorothy, who also became a writer. Wordsworth was allowed the use of his father’s extensive library which spurred his love of reading. He began composing poetry in grammar school at Penrith, where he also met the children of the Hutchinson family, including Mary, who would later become his wife.

In 1778, after Ann Cookson Wordsworth died, John Wordsworth sent his sons to a boarding school and sent Dorothy to live with relatives. The siblings remained apart for nine years until 1787, when John Wordsworth died, and Wordsworth published his first sonnet, began attending St. John’s College at Cambridge, and finally reunited with his sister Dorothy. The two lived together for the remainder of Wordsworth’s life.

In the summer of 1790, Wordsworth and his friend Robert Jones went on a year-long walking tour of Italy, Switzerland, and France, where they became enamored with the ideas of the French Revolution. After receiving a bachelor of arts from Cambridge, Wordsworth returned to France in 1792 and began a relationship with Annette Vallon. In 1793, they had a daughter named Caroline. However, due to rising political tensions and a lack of money, Wordsworth retreated to England; then, the French Revolution restricted travel, so he was unable to go back to France. However, he did financially support Annette and Caroline.

In 1793, his first two collections were published: An Evening Walk, which had been written during his time at Cambridge, and Descriptive Sketches, which was written while in France. Two years later, Wordsworth received a small inheritance and was able to pursue poetry as a career. He met Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and the two poets developed a close friendship. Wordsworth and Dorothy moved to Somerset near Coleridge’s home and the two men began closely collaborating on what would become Lyrical Ballads (1798).

In autumn of that year, Wordsworth, Dorothy, Coleridge, and Coleridge’s companion, John Chester, travelled to Hamburg, Germany, one of the few European countries open to British tourists during the French Revolution. Wordsworth, although homesick, was prolific, composing the “Lucy poems” and beginning a poem for Coleridge, which would later become The Prelude (See: Further Reading & Resources).

In 1799, Wordsworth and Coleridge returned to England; in 1800, they released a second edition of Lyrical Ballads. This included the “Lucy poems” and Wordsworth’s expanded preface, which detailed the ideas of Romanticism. The essay, “Preface to the Lyrical Ballads,” would become the movement’s central theoretical work.

In 1801, Wordsworth received another inheritance and, after making financial arrangements for Annette and Caroline, proposed to Mary Hutchinson. The couple married in 1802 and went on to have five children. In 1805, Wordsworth completed a revision of The Prelude. Although it would remain unpublished until after his death, it is considered his masterpiece by most critics. In 1807, he published Poems, In Two Volumes. Several tragedies befell Wordsworth during this period. His brother, John, died in 1805, and two of Wordsworth’s children—Thomas and Catherine—died in 1812. Wordsworth also became estranged from Coleridge due to the latter’s excessive use of opium.

In 1813, Wordsworth accepted an appointment to be the Distributor of Stamps for Westmoreland to become more financially secure. The Wordsworth family, including Dorothy, moved to Rydal Mount, Ambleside. In 1814, Wordsworth published The Excursion, which became extremely popular in his lifetime. By 1820, his reputation was notable. A few years later, he reconciled with Coleridge, and they toured western Germany together in 1828. In 1829, a severe illness made Dorothy an invalid and by 1835, most of Wordsworth’s friends and collaborators had passed away.

In 1843, Wordsworth became Poet Laureate of England at the urging of Prime Minister Robert Peele, but was not required to write any occasional poems. In 1847, after the unexpected death of his daughter, Dora, Wordsworth gave up writing entirely. On April 23, 1850, Wordsworth died at age 80. His wife, Mary, posthumously published The Prelude (1805), which achieved great acclaim.

Poem Text

She dwelt among the untrodden ways

         Beside the springs of Dove,

A Maid whom there were none to praise

         And very few to love:

A violet by a mossy stone

         Half hidden from the eye!

—Fair as a star, when only one

         Is shining in the sky.

She lived unknown, and few could know

         When Lucy ceased to be;

But she is in her grave, and, oh,

         The difference to me!

Wordsworth, William. “She dwelt among the untrodden ways.” 1800. Poets.org

Note: This guide also references Wordsworth’s original draft, which differs from the published poem. The poems appear side by side in Richard E. Matlak’s “Wordsworth’s Lucy Poems in Psychobiographical Context,” published in PMLA in 1978.

Summary

The speaker remembers a young woman who lived in a remote location near an English river. The woman was isolated and often not lauded or loved. The speaker compares her to a “violet” (Line 5) that is almost missed on a walk since it is nearly obscured from view by a moss-covered rock. The speaker goes on to note that the woman was as beautiful as a solitary “star” (Line 7) in the night. However, since no one really was aware of this lovely woman in life, no one is aware that she died. The speaker notes that her name was Lucy and that now she is buried. The speaker ends the poem by noting with grief the contrast between the speaker’s world when Lucy was alive and after her death.