Complete Summary of She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Way
- William Wordsworth
Meaning of the title “She dwelt among the untrodden ways”
→ She lived somewhere where no one knew about her. The title also means that she lived unknowingly and only few could know about her. She lived unnoticed by all others except by the poet himself.
Term to understand
Quatrain: A stanza of four lines having alternate rhymes
Concept:
- This poem describes about the growth, perfection and death of Lucy.
- The Lucy poems are a series of five poems composed by the English Romantic poet William Wordsworth between 1798 and 1801.
- The "Lucy poems" consist of "Strange fits of passion have I known", "She dwelt among the untrodden ways", "I travelled among unknown men", "Three years she grew in sun and shower", and "A slumber did my spirit seal".
- The poem was written during a short period while the poet lived in Germany.
- There are different thoughts regarding why the poet wrote the poem. Some scholars say that Lucy is based on his sister Dorothy, while others see her as a fictitious (काल्पनिक) character.
- She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways" presents Lucy as having lived in solitude (एकान्त) near the source of the River Dove.
- In the opening quatrain, he describes the isolated and untouched area where Lucy lived, as well as her innocence and beauty, which he compares to that of a hidden flower in the second.
Click here to read the summary of Facing Death
Short Summary of She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways
The speaker introduces us the setting where his beloved once lived. He says that she lived in a peaceful place. Sadly, there was no one to praise her magnificent (भव्य) beauty and love her. He compares her with beautiful natural objects like violet (a kind of flower) by a mossy stone (चिल्लो ढुङ्गा) and a fair/bright star, which indicates that the lady was an epitome (प्रतीक) of beauty. Despite her magnificent appearance, she could not escape death. Leaving the speaker in despair, the beautiful lady died and her death brought a great sense of loss for him.
Complete summary of the poem She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways
The poem 'she dwelt among the untrodden ways' is written by an English romantic poet William Wordsworth in 1798. The poem has three quatrains. This poem is the best known of his series of 5 works which comprise is 'Lucy' series.
This poem is all about the growth, perfection (पूर्णता) and death of Lucy who is a young unmarried woman. She lived in a remote place where few people hardly visited, near the source of a Dove River in Central England. She was a young, unmarried woman who didn't get the appreciation and praise that she deserved in her life and very few people loved her.
She was like a violet, a white flower with the sweet smell next to a big mossy stone. This indicates that her delicate beauty was often hidden by bigger obvious things. Thus, it was difficult to see and understand her. In fact, she was as beautiful as a star when it is the only one to appear in the evening sky.
In the last quatrain, this young woman, Lucy was unknown by people when she lived. When she died only few people noticed her. In spite of that, she is dead and buried in the earth. In the last two lines the poet says that the death of Lucy had a serious and emotional impact on him.
Theme of the poem She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways:
Major Themes in “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” are life, death, and loss. The poem centers on the idea that death is unavoidable; every living creature has to face it. The poet describes and appreciates his dead lover. This beautiful piece expresses the grave loss and acute pain of the speaker who has lost his beloved. He appreciates her beauty by comparing her with beautiful natural objects. However, no matter how beautiful a person is, one day he has to die. Although her death has not brought any change in the cycle of the universe, yet, to the speaker, her death makes a big difference as he loves her.
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