The Benefits of Loving a Dead Woman in Wordsworth's "She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways"

 I think “She Dwelt among the Untrodden Ways” speaks more to Wordsworth’s success in being able to love Lucy rather than as a simple ode to Lucy as a woman.  This is clear in the first line when he says “She dwelt among the untrodden ways” meaning that she lives in a place that is not easy to access.  It also could imply a completely different style or way of living that was different than other women at that time.  This inaccessibility suggests that Wordsworth, too, must go “among the untrodden ways” to find Lucy and to be with her.  It means that he had to great struggle to get to her and be with her, as there are no clear paths or ways to truly get to her.

According to the dictionary, untrodden means “(of a surface) not having been walked on” (Google search of “untrodden").  With that, I want to try and take it further and use the idea of “untrodden ways” as a suggestion for Lucy’s virginity or purity.  If she “dwelt among the untrodden ways”—the untrodden ways being a lifestyle rather than geographical location—then she lives a life in a body that hasn’t been walked on, or altered, or made impure.  This idea is further pushed along when he writes; “A Maid who there were none to praise/And very few to love” (3-4).  So, if Lucy does really live in inaccessible areas, there is no one to love and therefore no way for her to become impure.  She also lives; “Beside the springs of Dove” (2).  The dove is often a symbol for peace.  Wordsworth is really idealizing Lucy and their love here, as she lives in a peaceful place with no one to truly love her like he does. 

Wordsworth takes ownership over Lucy and his love for her with this poem.  In the final stanza he says; “She lived unknown, and few could know/When Lucy ceased to be” (9-10).  By stating that he noticed her absence right away, he is establishing a very clear and special connection between him and Lucy that no-one else is capable of having but himself.  He further strengthens this connection and claims more ownership over Lucy when he says; “But she is in her grave, and, oh,/The difference to me!” (11-12).  With this final revealing of Lucy’s death, Wordsworth is implying that no-one else will ever be able to love her or have her like he did, making her eternally his. 

            This last line can also be taken back when rereading the poem.  With the idea of Lucy as dead, the “untrodden ways” and “springs of Dove” can be seen as heavenly images.  This could be a way of saying that Lucy has always and will always live in heaven, or in an unreachable place that only Wordsworth can get to.  So, if Lucy has always been in heaven and continues to be so, it could imply a relationship with her that continues after death.  It doesn’t necessarily imply sexual relations that continue post death, but does suggest an eternal love between Lucy and Wordsworth, if not a continued love of Lucy post death or strange obsession with her in her “untrodden” and unreachable state.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting "Elizabeth Siddal."  It's a painting of his wife, who had recently died.  Its idealization of her beauty and heavenly surroundings reminds me a lot of Wordsworth's Lucy poems and the general obsession with dead women.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Dante_Gabriel_Rossetti_-_Beata_Beatrix,_1864-1870.jpg