Finding Beauty in a Sea of People
FreeVerse is a weekly meme created by Ooh…Books. The idea behind in the meme is to celebrate poetry is some way or fashion. In This meme, you can either sharing poetry you wrote, others wrote and in any poetic form. Also, you can decide on how you share poetry. The sky’s the limit with this meme. This meme is hosted every Wednesday, but I have another post scheduled tomorrow, so I am participating today.
When I first saw this meme, the first poem that popped into my head was William Wordsworth’s She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways. Ever since I heard this poem at seventeen, it has been my favorite. I would read the poem over and over again just feeling words as I read.
Technical Details:
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways by William Wordsworth is part of a series of poems called The Lucy Poems. The poems are all focused on the deceased character of Lucy, with whom the writer is in love. There has always been a bit of controversy as to who exactly Lucy was. The main hypothesis is that Lucy was based upon Wordsworth’s sister, Dorothy. The other hypothesis is that Lucy did not exist and she was simply used as a literary device.
My Take on Poetry:
Technical details aside, I feel when you read anything (especially poetry) there is always the assumption that the poem is being read by someone who did not write the poem. Because most published poetry is shared, read and reread by people who did not write the poems, I don’t really think there is really a wrong way to interpret or analyze a poem as long as the analysis has something to do with the poem. You can project your feelings onto poetry all day and night, and no one can really tell you that you are wrong, because poetry is fundamentally dependent upon the reader to extract the meaning from it.
The Poem:
She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways
by William Wordsworth
She dwelt among the untrodden ways
Beside the springs of Dove,
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love:
A violet by a mossy stone
Half hidden from the eye!
Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
She lived unknown, and few could know
When Lucy ceased to be;
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me!
What Lucy Says to Me:
As a teenage girl, I felt pretty plain and insignificant compared to those around me. I knew that no matter what, I was not going to be the next Cindy Crawford or Nicole Kidman. It wasn’t the fact that I didn’t look like them, I just have been drawn to more down-to-earth things and those things do not include a huge fondness for make-up and tight clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I’m like any woman, I like to get dressed up and feel pretty, but I’m most at home in my sweatpants and baggy sweatshirts.
In She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways, Lucy is not a great beauty. Lucy is an average woman who many do not pay attention to. She is not the girl that turns every head when she walks into the room. She is not the girl swarmed by men who are tying to get her attention. She is average. However, there is one person that she means the world to: the writer. Lucy becomes beautiful and the center of attention through the writer’s (Wordsworth) poem and love.
I believe that this poem symbolizes what all of us long for at some point in our lives: love. Most everyday folks know that we are not ever going to be or look like Jennifer Aniston, Nicole Kidman, or Halle Berry. I have known many non-famous beautiful women who turn heads where ever they go. Those girls are usually super skinny, big blond hair, big boobs, permanent tan, lots of make-up and Playboy like. I, frankly, have never really been one of them. That’s okay, because now that I’m older, I only care if my husband’s head is turned when I walk in the room.
Do you have a poem that has had special meaning for you?
Thank you so much for posting this in my Mr. Linky. I identified with the poem the same way you did. I’m pretty but I’ve never gotten that much attention to men. I’m a jeans (or even scrubs) and a hoodie type of girls. I don’t wear make-up except on rare occasions. I love this poem. Thank you for introducing me to the Lucy poems.
Hi Cara ~ I loved the meme that you came up with! I love poetry and think that’s it is not appreciated enough.
As for beauty, honestly, I think that most of fall into the “normal” category and it is through love (whatever form that might take) that make us “noticeable.” Anyway, this is one of all time favorite poems and I have a couple more that I’d love to share
an xcellent poem that touched my heart
i think you misunderstod the poem.
the identity of Lucy is mistery, it could be a real girl as u think and it could be an imaginary character.
Wordsworth, as a romantic poet, has always desorted to nature ( The source of inspiration for them).
Shelly, in this poem wanted to show the pure beauty of nature, and lucy represents this nature.
he sys that Lucy is a maid,pure…. because she wasnt touched by the men of the artificial society, where moral codes are corrupted and men became like a machine. he destorted to nature in order to moralize his society.
Wordsworth* instead of Shelly = sorry for that mistake. i was reading a poem of Shelly when i was posting a comment here. lol
i like your way in criticism, you try to connect you point of view with the society. but dont ever unite between what you feel and what the poet feel. its better not to add our personal feelings to the poem. Also we must have a good background about the poet first and what school of poetry he followed.
so i think you should take a good look to the features of Romanticism and how did they function nature in their poetry.
Hi Helen – I appreciate your insight into Lucy as a symbol for nature. I am aware of the idealism that Wordsworth had for nature and that this was a theme for much of his poetry. Looking at Wordsworth’s obsession with nature is one way of looking at the poem; however, I think that there are many ways to look at the poem (or any poem for that matter). You can look at it from the author’s POV, a feminist POV, a reader’s POV, society etc. I’ve taken the reader’s point of view here, which, to me, means that I discuss what feelings the poem conveys for me.
hai helen, honestly, i really like this poem. because this poem make me very understand about love and i think this poem will get most attention from the reader.