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Theme Of She Dwelt Among The Untrodden Ways

Satisfactory Essays

In “Down by the Salley Gardens” by William Butler Yeats and “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden ways” by William Wordsworth, the poets use a theme of love while applying imagery consistently throughout the poems. Additionally, Yeats uses repetition to show the passing of time through metaphors while Wordsworth comparatively portrays his inner thoughts. Since they are expressing their emotions, Yeats applies similes comparing his love to the beauty of nature whilst Wordsworth is commemorating his love, despite her disappearing from his life. “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways” by Wordsworth expresses his emotion towards her as she lives her life only to die isolated. “Down by the Salley Gardens” by Yeats has a sense of regret, showing his inner …show more content…

For example, Wordsworth compares “She”(1) to a “violet”(5) in contrast to the “mossy stone”(5).

The violet in this context can be interpreted as standing out, while a mossy stone has the connotation of dullness, ordinary, which is emphasized through the usage of visual imagery. Another instance where he uses imagery is when he is comparing her standing out to him like “a star, when only one/is shining in the sky” (7-8). As stars are a part of the night sky, it represents imagery but also shows his feelings towards her. Similarly, Yeats compares the beauty of his love to the beauty of nature.

Yeats uses a metaphor of his love in “little snow-white feet”(2) compared to the second stanza’s “her snow-white hands” (6). This emphasizes the significance of a theme of love, while using imagery to visualize his past lover. Yeats also compares to a “field by the river” (5) as a river can be interpreted as imagery but also could be a symbol for how time keeps on going. It represents that time has gone by while his love remains strong, thinking back to the time when she was still with him going back to how he is full of …show more content…

Repetition is utilized to reflect Yeats’ inner opinion on how he rushed the relationship, ultimately resulting in her leaving him. The use of repetition is dominant throughout as the phrases” little snow-white feet”(2) to “her snow-white hands”, “my love and I did meet”(1) in contrast with “my love and I did stand” showing repetition while also showing imagery of something snow-white. This is significant because of how the poem has a parallel structure, the past events have already happened and cannot be change thus he is reflecting how he regret not listening to her. As mentioned before, another point of repetition is “take love easy” with “take life easy” which could be interpreted as her message to the narrator about learning to relax and slow down. This is supported by how he is reflecting back to when he was still “young and foolish”(8) thinking about how his life was wasted and not realizing that he is not living life to the fullest, relating back to a theme of

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