Romantic
poetry
William
Wordsworth and Samuel Tailor Coleridge composed the “Lyrical Ballad” as a
reaction to the School of Augustan Poetry. In Romantic Poetry the poet was an
individual set apart from the other human beings by his ability to experience and
understand.
The
nature in its many folds became the centre of interest. To Wordsworth nature
was a source of loveliness. At the same time it provided mankind a moral
message. Nature could restore and refresh human spirit and provide
companionship.
She
dwelt among the untrodden ways – William Wordsworth
The
poem is one of the shorter poems of the collection of poetry called “Lucy
Poems”. The poem has three stanzas of four lines each rhyming “ ab, ab, cd, cd,
ef, ef”.
In the first stanza the poet shows a young
girl living besides a spring, a place so far away from human habitation.
She
dwelt among the untrodden ways
Besides
the springs of Dove,
A
maid whom there were none to praise
And
very few to love:
There
were only very few to see or appreciate her. Human beings have an inborn need
for companionship. We are gregarious by nature. But this girl is deprived of
that basic human need. Therefore, the first stanza carries a sense of
melancholy. The image of “Dove” implies innocence but at the same time one must
not forget that the dove is also the bird of the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite.
But the maid does not have anyone to love her.
In
the second stanza the poet presents two very vivid metaphoric images. The first
is of a violet by a mossy stone. Violets are lovely flowers. The rich
green of the moss on the stone contrasts with the purple hue of the
flower. This is a striking image. But it
is half hidden from the eye. Like in the case of the maid, only a very few people
see the beauty of the flower.
A violet by a mossy stone
Half
hidden from the eye!
Fair
as a star, when one
Is
shining in the sky.
The
maid is indirectly compared to a star. A star is a part of the heavens.
The maid in her pure state is suitably compared to a heavenly object. But it is
far away up in the sky. So it is all alone by itself despite its brilliance and
beauty. It is not appreciated as it should be, too, as it shines at night. Like
the star that shines in the sky when everyone is asleep and the violet that
blooms to wither unseen, the unknown girl too live and die unknown. The
sensitive poet is the only person grieved by the death of the maid.
“She
lived unknown, and few could know
When
Lucy ceased to be;
But
she is in her grave, and, oh,
The
difference to me!”
The language is
devoid of any dramatic embellishments. Its simplicity is arresting. The writer
uses a few old fashioned words to give a misty quality to the poem – “She dwelt
among untrodden ways”.
