Wordsworth's 'She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways'

In his article, "At Zero: A Reading of Wordsworth's 'She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways'", Roger L. Slakey makes many thoughtful observations regarding Wordsworth's poem, particularly in regard to its adherence to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's notion of "poetic form as a proceeding". Coleridge saw poetic form as a journey of sorts, always pressing towards the end, which is the point at which all the various elements of the poem come to fruition; it is the increasing intensity of the speaker's feelings, and the ways Wordsworth relates them, which enable this poem to move forward in such a manner.

After beginning with a proposition, a simple statement of fact, in the first two lines, Wordsworth uses the appositive, a form of direct address, in the next six. This conveys a sense of intimacy, as the reader is brought from casual observer to close confidant; the appositive implies the simple knowing of something, in that it is the main thing one notices of someone or something. Slakey provides the example, "Washington, capital of the U.S.A.".

The second stanza is made up of two appositives, and takes us in a more personal direction, speaking of "Lucy" in terms of her own self, as opposed to the first stanza's use of her surroundings and others' attitudes toward her. The language becomes strongly imaginative at this point, and the relationship between the speaker and the girl becomes explicit. This stanza is, "as concrete, as specific, as visual, as interpretive, as the first stanza is abstract, general, mental, factual"; the imagery here suggests that she is at once lowly and ordinary, while also delicate and lovely.

Wordsworth's use of simile and metaphor are important here, as the first appositive, in which her homely qualities are mentioned, is a metaphor, and the two following are similes. The use of metaphor implies a closeness, while simile implies more of a distance, an approximation as opposed to a very deep understanding. Simile is used to speak of her indefinable qualities, as though his mind fails to completely grasp them enough to find a suitable metaphor.

The third stanza begins with the abrupt statement, "She lived unknown", which jumps out at the reader with its "firm iambic beats". The poem proceeds from affirmation in the second stanza to negation in the third; "few could know" and, "ceased to be" both express a kind of absence. It is here that we see the effects of this loss on the speaker, as he loses imaginative power, changing "from image to abstract" shows that he is at a loss at how to properly express himself. The final line sums up this loss perfectly, as he can but exclaim, "oh, the difference to me!"

This is one of Wordsworth's finest poems because it depicts, "Simply, dramatically, and poignantly the experience of a man whose love has died and left him, 'zero at the bone.'"