She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways was written in 1798.

This poem is Wordsworth’s best-known work

from a series of five texts that form his “Lucy” series. In this series, Wordsworth examines an idealized and
unrequited love for Lucy, a girl who has died young.
The poem examines loneliness and loss, but also unrecognized beauty and dignity. She Dwelt among the
Untrodden Ways has three quatrains with simple language (mainly words of one syllable), and it has an
ABAB rhyme scheme. Furthermore, Wordsworth’s poem can be read as an elegiac poem, with graceful
descriptions and a mourning tone. Thus, She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways’s main theme is death, a
death that is described and grieved for throughout the entire poem.
She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways is a prototypical representative of a Romantic poem. The poem
celebrates a girl by associating her to nature with straightforward language and emphasizing emotional
expression. Moreover, it is a short lyric form that concerns rural life.

She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways Analysis

First Stanza
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:
The first stanza describes the area in which Lucy (“She”) lived. This rural scenery is described as a locus
amoenus, an idealized beautiful place. From the first line, the lyrical voice refers to a “She”, his/her loved
one that will later acquire a name (“Lucy”). Notice how it is described that she “dwelt”, meaning that she
lived there in the past. Although this rural scenery is described as idyllic and magnificent place (“among the
untrodden ways/Beside the springs of Dove”), Lucy was alone and there was no one to praise her and to love
her (A Maid whom there were none to praise/ And very few to love”). The first line, which serves also as the
title of the poem, suggests that Lucy lived both physically and spiritually unrevealed and distant.

Second Stanza
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
—Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
The second stanza focuses on nature. As a representative Romanic device, the lyrical voice compares the
beauty of nature to the grace of Lucy. She is likened to “A violet by a mossy stone/ Half hidden from the
eye” and to a fair star “when only one/Is shining in the sky”. These comparisons serve to exemplify Lucy as
an embodiment of all beauty. Notice how her description is made by an economic use of words, as they
depict Lucy’s simplicity by using short, straightforward, everyday words. This word usage creates a
meaningful and powerful poetry that emphasizes on passionate feelings of love and grief.

Third Stanza
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 final stanza serves as an antithesis. The lyrical voice accentuates her isolation: “She lived unknown, and
few could know/ When Lucy ceased to be;”. The poem follows a cyclical pattern. Notice how this
stanza repeats the characterization of Lucy as distant and unknown (like in the first stanza). Moreover, this
cycle is also related to the movement between growth and death (In the first stanza she is presented as alive,
whereas in the last stanza the lyrical voice talks about her death). This cyclical form conveys great dramatic
intensity.
Lucy’s death is expressed with great sadness: “But she is in her grave, and, oh”. Love is asserted by the
lyrical voice’s exclamation of difference (“The difference to me!”). The lyrical voice, dissimilarly from
others, feels that he/she is unlike he/she was before because he/she could love her passionately, and that
changed him/her. This “difference” functions powerfully through understatement and establishes a dramatic
ending for the poem. Notice how, throughout the poem, the lyrical voice focuses on his experience and how
Lucy affected him/her rather than his/her beloved one herself (this is another recurrent characteristic of the
Romantic Movement).

DAFFODILS
William Wordsworth’s literary classic, ‘Daffodils’ is one of the most popular in the English language. It is a
quintessential poem of the Romantic movement.
This poem has been dissected methodically for explicating the poet’s mood, the surrounding location, the
allegorical meanings, and the beauty of nature in full motion. The poet’s love and proximity with nature have
inspired and moved generations-after-generations of poetry aficionados and young minds.

Summary of I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud

‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ describes a speaker walking aimlessly down the hills and valley when he
stumbled upon a beautiful field of daffodils.
The speaker, likely William Wordsworth himself, is walking aimlessly down the hills and valley when he
stumbled upon a beautiful field of daffodils. The speaker is transfixed by the daffodils seemingly waving,
fluttering, and dancing along the waterside. Albeit, the lake’s waves moved as fervently but the beauty of
daffodils outdid with flying colors. The poet feels immensely gleeful and chirpy at this mesmerizing
naturalistic sight. Amongst the company of flowers, he remains transfixed at those daffodils wavering with
full vigor. Oblivious to the poet is the fact that this wondrous scenery of daffodils brings the poet immense
blithe and joy when he’s in a tense mood or perplexed for that matter. His heart breaths a new life and gives
him exponential happiness at a sight worth a thousand words.

Themes
Throughout ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ Wordsworth engages with themes of nature, memory, and
spirituality. These three are tied together as the speaker, Wordsworth himself, moves through a beautiful
landscape. He takes pleasure in the sight of the daffodils and revives his spirit in nature. At the same time,
Wordsworth explores the theme of memory, as he does in other works such as ‘Tintern Abbey’. The flowers
are there to comfort him in real-time but also as a memory from the past.

Structure and Form

The poetic form of ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’ is composed of four stanzas of six lines each. It is an
adherent to quatrain-couplet rhyming style, A-B-A-B-C-C. Every line conforms to iambic
tetrameter. The poem Daffodils works within the a-b-a-b-c-c parameter as it uses consistent rhyming to
invoke nature at each stanza’s end. Moreover, it helps in creating imagery skillfully as the poet originally
intended. The poem flows akin to a planned song in a rhythmic structure. Consonance and alliteration are
used to create rhymes.

Literary Devices
Wordsworth makes use of several literary devices in ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’. These include but are
not limited to similes, hyperboles, personification, and allusion. Similes are also used since the poet alludes
himself to an aimless cloud, as he takes a casual stroll. Moreover, daffodils are compared to star clusters in
Milky Way to explicate the magnitude of daffodils fluttering freely beside the lake. At times, hyperbole is
used to explicate the immensity of the situation. The allusion of daffodils to stars spread across Milky Way is
one such instance. Furthermore, the daffodils are even made anthropomorphous in order to create a human
portrayal of Mother Nature in this instance.
Moreover, the poet has also used reverse personifications, equating humans to clouds, and daffodils to
humans with constant movement. Using this clever tactic, the poet brings people closer to nature, becoming a
hallmark of William Wordsworth’s most basic yet effectual methods for relating readers with nature,
appreciating its pristine glory. Daffodils celebrate the beauty of nature and its purity, along with bliss of
solitude. He deems his solitude as an asset and inspires him to live a meaningful life.
Detailed Analysis
Stanza One
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills
When all at once I saw a crowd
A host, of golden daffodils
The poet explains about his one day occasional aimless wandering. The term “wandered” means walking
free of their own accord. The poet is referring to himself as the ‘cloud’ in a metaphorical sense of the word.
Although the clouds mostly travel in groups, this cloud prefers singular hovering. However, he clearly
mentions his passing through valleys and hills on a routine walk, simplifying the narrative.
The poet comes across a bunch of daffodils fluttering in the air. He’s dumbfounded by the beauty of those
golden daffodils. Although, yellow would be more suitable for daffodils the poet intends to signify its beauty
by using golden color. The daffodils are termed as hosts/ crowd since they are together in a collective bunch.
The daffodils are a source of immense beauty for the poet hailing from the Romantic Era.

Stanza Two
Besides the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way
The daffodils are firmly perched beside a lake, beneath some trees. It’s a windy day overall and the flowers
dance and flutter as the wind blows. Let’s take a step back for a brief moment to locate the premises of the
poet’s inspiration. The poet resided in the infamous Lake District, a region rich in scenic locations entailing
hills, valleys and lakes. As a result, the location is realistic in its entirety. The poet refers to daffodils
dancing, a trait relatable to humans.
The above allegory is a clear and direct referral to our native galaxy Milky Way. The space continuum holds
great mystery for our Romantic Era poet as he envisions the daffodils to be in a constant state of wonder as
are the stars beyond the reach of humans.

Stanza Three
The stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance
The poet makes an allusion to Milky Way, our galaxy filled with its own planetary solar systems stretched
beyond infinity. The lake supposedly has a large area since the daffodils are dispersed along the shoreline.
Along the Milky Way’s premises lie countless stars which the poet alludes to daffodils fluttering beside the
lake.
By ten thousand, he meant a collection of daffodils were fluttering in the air, spellbinding the poet at the
beauty of the scene. It’s just a wild estimation at best as he supposes ten thousand daffodils at a glance. The
term sprightly comes from sprite which is primarily dandy little spirits people deemed existed in such times.
They are akin to fairies.