“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” is a 12-line ballad written in 1798 by William Wordsworth, one of the founding figures of the English Romantic movement. It first appeared in the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads, which Wordsworth jointly published with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In the poem, an unidentified speaker mourns the loss of Lucy, a young woman who died young in the English countryside and whose beauty and virtue were overlooked in life. The poem is one of five in a group critics refer to as the “Lucy Poems,” all but one of which mention Lucy by name — though Wordsworth never acknowledged their connection and was notably quiet on who Lucy might have referred to.
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The Full Text of “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways”
1She dwelt among the untrodden ways
2Beside the springs of Dove,
3A Maid whom there were none to praise
4And very few to love:
5A violet by a mossy stone
6Half hidden from the eye!
7—Fair as a star, when only one
8Is shining in the sky.
9She lived unknown, and few could know
10When Lucy ceased to be;
11But she is in her grave, and, oh,
12The difference to me!
The Full Text of “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways”
1She dwelt among the untrodden ways
2Beside the springs of Dove,
3A Maid whom there were none to praise
4And very few to love:
5A violet by a mossy stone
6Half hidden from the eye!
7—Fair as a star, when only one
8Is shining in the sky.
9She lived unknown, and few could know
10When Lucy ceased to be;
11But she is in her grave, and, oh,
12The difference to me!
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Summary
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Themes
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Virtue and Appreciation
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Love and Mystery
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways”
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Lines 1-2
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove, -
Lines 3-4
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love: -
Lines 5-6
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye! -
Lines 7-8
—Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky. -
Lines 9-10
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be; -
Lines 11-12
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Symbols
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The Star
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Allusion
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Metaphor
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Simile
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Polyptoton
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Parallelism
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Alliteration
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Enjambment
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Caesura
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Apostrophe
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Dwelt
- Untrodden
- Springs
- Dove
- Maid
- Praise
- Violet
- Fair
- Unknown
- Lucy
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Speaker
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“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways”
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More “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” Resources
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External Resources
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Preface to Lyrical Ballads — The LitChart guide for the preface to the 1800 edition of Lyrical Ballads, in which Wordsworth develops one of the guiding poetical theories of the English Romantic movement.
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Personal Essay about "She Dwelt" by a U.S. Novelist — A short personal essay about the poem by novelist Sabina Murray.
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1839 Transcription of “She Dwelt” — A version of the poem transcribed by Wordsworth in 1839 for one “Lady Dell.”
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Sir Andrew Motion Reads "She Dwelt" — Contemporary English knight and poet Andrew Motion reads the poem and shares a personal anecdote about it.
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William Wordsworth's Biography — A biography from the Poetry Foundation detailing Wordsworth’s career, personal relationships, political thinking, and poetical theories.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by William Wordsworth
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