literature

=**This page is about __literature__. It is aimed at **=

**giving you a "toolbox" for text analysis and much more... **

 * January 2013 **
 * Here's the promised timeline (the origins of Great Britain): **

Text analysis: from theory to practice

Before reading the poem “**She dwelt among the untrodden ways"** written by the Romantic poet **W. Wordsworth,** look at the photographs of the **Lake** **District** (the place where the poet lived) : you´ll find it easier to understand this poem.

when he was 28 years old.
 * William Wordsworth** (1770-1850) was born at Cockermouth, in the heart of the **Lake**
 * District**, **o**ne of the nicest places in England! William Wordsworth wrote this poem in 1798

“She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” is a **three-stanza poem** with characteristics of an **elegy** (in that the poem laments a person's death) and a **ballad** (in that the poem tells a bit of a story).

The **title** is not really a title, but the first line of the poem... Think of the suggestion of the use of the past tense, //dwelt//, and the fact that the ways were //untrodden..//

//**She dwelt among the untrodden ways**//

She __dwelt__ among the untrodden ways (= see notes below) Beside the springs of Dove, 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!

__** Activity 1. **__ __Read the 1st stanza__, and then consider __these questions__:

- Who is "she" in line 1? - What do you know about "her"?

Notes- You may need to know that in: Line 1: //dwelt// means "lived"; //untrodden// means "non calpestate". It is the past partciple of "untread", which is the opposite of "tread" (tread-trod-trodden, "calpestare") Line 2: //Dove:// it's the name of a river. Line 3: //Maid//: a girl; a young (unmarried) woman.

__** Activity 2 **__ Now look carefully at the **rhyme scheme,** the line lengths, the vocabulary and structure of the sentences and __then say what is,__ or seems, __simple about__ __this poem__ in your view.

2nd stanza Line 7: the //star// might be Venus which often as the Evening Star is the only one shining in the sky, because of its relative brightness

Consider the images in the second stanza: - What qualities of the violet does Wordsworth emphasise by his description of it? - What other associations might a ‘//mossy stone’// have? - In what ways is the image of the //star// different to the image of the //violet//, and what is the effect of this contrast in the poem?

__** Activity 3 **__ 3rd stanza • Instead of saying 'died', Wordsworth uses the phrase, //'ceased to be'//. Does this phrase make a greater impact? Be ready to discuss and explain your thoughts the next lesson • What is the effect of the positioning of //‘oh’// at this point in the poem? . What is the meaning of the phrase, ‘//The difference to me’//? Does it say more than that he misses her? Explain their thoughts.

Read the poem again two or three times to yourselves and try to express in your own way what makes it a special and **haunting** poem, and why you think so many readers over more than two hundred years have found it so memorable.

As I promised you, here's the video about "She dwelt among the untrodden ways" It is recited by John Neville, a famous British actor

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Do you know that the famous poem by Wordswoth has been put into music? You will hardly believe your ears but it is a **song!** Listen and enjoy "She dwelt among the untrodden ways" played by a band whose name is ... "The Divine Comedy" !!!

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