Farmhand she dwelt among untrodden ways essay

One of Wordsworth’s “Lucy Poems”, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways, was written in the year 1798, when Wordsworth was sojourning in Germany. Published in the second edition of “Lyrical Ballads” in 1800, its main idea constitutes the celebration of a maid named Lucy, who is very dear to the poet and whose traits are similar to nature.

Maid whom there were none to praise And very few to love: The poet begins by narrating how Lucy lived in a remote and secluded place, (“untrodden ways”), and never received much attention, (“none to praise”), or love, (“very few to love”).

The poem Farmhand by James K. Baxter is about a self-conscious male who is only at easewhen working on the land. In contrast, She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways by William Wordsworth focuses on a girl called Lucy who has just died; she is described using natural metaphors.

I believe the Farmhand is the more powerful poem because his awkwardness around females and the contrast with the farm emphasizes his true place in life more effectively than the idea that Lucy is hidden from the rest of the world and her death.