Question

"SHE DWELT AMONG UNTRODDEN WAYS"

Take any four lines from this poem—either consecutive or sporadic lines—and show how at least three of these literary devices are applied: metaphor, assonance, sibilance, tone, and/or imagery. Discuss how these techniques help you to understand or experience the poem's meaning or impact. Your answer should be at least 250 words.

Answer 1

Line chosen from the poem is fair as a star has use of simile.

Step-by-step explanation:

Four lines chosen from the poem are :

A violet from a mossy stone

half hidden from the eye!

Fair as a star, when only one

Is shining in the sky.

In the third line of this stanza, simile has been used because a comparison has been made in the poem using the word "as". This helps to understand the meaning that the poet is trying to make with more impact and gives them an example.

Answer 2

A metaphor is used within the poem when Lucy is compared to "A violet by a mossy stone". This metaphor describes her delicacy, scarcity, and individuality within the world. This helped us to understand the poem better by pointing out even more how different Lucy is compared to others but yet how unnoticed she is because many people have not either discovered her beauty and individuality or they have not yet met her because she is was a maid and the help was very rarely associated with as seen in sense and sensibility as the help was considered the lowest working class and different social classes did not intermingle. Another literary device used within this poem is imagery as it uses personification and a simile within these two lines to create a better image of how rare and exotic Lucy really is. Wordsworth states that Lucy was as "Fair as a star when only one is shining in the sky." Through his use of other literary techniques, he was able to allow us to picture Lucy as if she was magnificent as a star an as if she were the only star that was able to shine. Sibilance is also used at the beginning of the poem with the line " SHE dwelt among the untrodden ways". The emphasis on she allows us to be acquainted with her importance of the poem by the first word, which allows the audience to understand the flow of events and the peculiarity of Lucy.