William Wordsworth was a revolutionary poet. He rejected the traditional poetic forms of his day. In his preface to Lyrical Ballads he said that he wanted to write about ‘incidents and situations from common life’ and that he wanted to do this ‘in a selection of language really used by men’. At the same time, Wordsworth wished to ‘throw over them a certain colouring of imagination, whereby ordinary things should be presented to the mind in an unusual way’. He was certainly successful in achieving these aims. While his poems are deep, meaningful and astoundingly beautiful, they are also extremely accessible and astonishing in their elegant simplicity.
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‘She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways’ is an exquisite poem of great depth and poignancy. In concise yet beautiful language Wordsworth explores the profound pain of loss and how much this girl’s death impacted upon him: ‘few could know/ When Lucy ceased to be;/ But she is in her grave, and, oh,/ The difference to me!’ The poet helps the reader to feel something of his sorrow when he uses emotive language to tug on our heartstrings: ‘A Maid whom there were none to praise/ And very few to love’. Lucy’s death seemed all the sadder to me because her short life was so harsh and lonely. Her natural and unadorned beauty was conveyed vividly with Wordsworth’s clever use of metaphor: ‘A violet by a mossy stone/ Half hidden from the eye!’ One of the loveliest images in the poem was the comparison of Lucy to a lone star in the sky: ‘Fair as a star, when only one/ Is shining in the sky.’ This simply written short poem is one of the loveliest, saddest and most powerful poems that I have ever read.
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The poems I have discussed are undoubtedly deep. They explore many aspects of the human experience, including the emotional first meeting of a father and daughter, the heartbreaking loss of a loved-one, the transformative effect of nature, the stirring power of music and profound explorations of life and relationships. Wordsworth’s expert use of imagery brings his work to life vividly. However, these intricate poems about complex subjects are written in an approachable way, in a conversational tone and with a simplicity of form which is admirably unpretentious and approachable.
