For those of you unfamiliar with the writings of Tawle I have pasted a typed up copy of his handwritten notes on a famous Wordsworth poem. The original can be found in the manuscript collection of the Library of Congress if you wish to read more.
The writing was at times almost illegible and though I tried to make a faithful transcription I apologise for any errors I may have introduced.
I also think these notes were also published in the book Calling a Spade a Shovel: the notebooks of Noah Tawle.
Now sadly out of print but you if you are lucky you may find a copy on Abe Books or elsewhere.
Notes for the essay Words Not Worth Very Much. by Noah Tawle.
She dwelt among the untrodden ways by William Wordsworth
She dwelt among the untrodden ways (1)
Beside the springs of Dove, (2)
A Maid whom there were none to praise
And very few to love: (3)
A violet by a mossy stone (4)
Half hidden from the eye!
—Fair as a star,
when only one Is shining in the sky. (5)
She lived unknown, and few could know (6)
When Lucy ceased to be; (7)
But she is in her grave, and, oh,
The difference to me! (8)
1. From the very first line the reader is confronted with problems. 'Untrodden ways'. I think we can all agree that part of the common definition of the word 'way' is the assumption that it will be trodden. In fact for Lucy to have arrived at her dwelling 'beside the springs of Dove.' ( This should be 'beside of the springs of the River Dove', but I will not argue the point here.) she must must have trod the path.
Is this then a paradox?
I think not, but first let us consider the bridleway. If a path, track or way is used only by horses, cattle, sheep and other animals can it be said to be 'trodden'?
The answer is yes. Horses are said to 'tread the turf'.
With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground. Ezekiel 26:11 King James Bible
Mr. W. Cooke's horses begin to tread on classic ground.The Spectator 9 AUGUST 1856, Page 11
And more recently, this headline in the British newspaper The Telegraph :
Lord Oaksey blessed with numerous skills and one of the greatest men to tread the turf John Oaksey, the former Daily Telegraph racing correspondent, racing presenter and amateur rider, has died after a long illness. He was 83.
(I think we can safely assume that he did not run around the track without a horse.)
So, Lucy can neither have walked nor ridden to her 'dwelling' leaving us, the readers, with two possible conclusions; the Holmesian, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. - this lets in alien abduction, the supernatural and the premature invention of the helicopter.- or is it simply a slapdash error on the part of the poet.
The reader must decide.
Note also the word 'dwelt'. What is it that Lucy actually dwells in? Is it a cottage, a mansion, a semi-detached house, a cave in the hill side, or a tent? Wordsworth can not be bothered to tell us.
2. I am sure some of my critics will call me pedantic, but surely 'beside' is such a vague word.
So vague as to be almost meaningless. Look at a globe of the world and you will see England is 'beside' France. It is over twenty miles away.
Look at a street map of new York City and you will see Times Square is 'beside' MOMA. They are several hundred yards apart.
For readers to have a clear picture in their mind the poet needs to use some standard form of measurement. 50 feet, 100 meters, 40 cubits, 500 Centimeters.
Otherwise we will never know if Lucy has to take an hour's walk to fill her bucket of water, or if she simply leans out of an open window. Or the door to her tent!
3. Obviously there were very few to love as the poet has only just told us that there were none to praise. We call that tautology Mr. Wordsworth.
4. See 2. The problem of distance again. How far apart exactly are the violet and the mossy stone?
Or does Wordsworth mean that the violet is half covered by the stone? In that case, as flowers do not grow beneath stones, someone, or something, must have placed the stone so it covered half the violet. Could this be another reference to the supernatural, or just another careless slip by Wordsworth?
5. In this universe stars do not take turns at shining. What Wordsworth means is either the planet Venus ( Popularly known as the morning or evening star.) seen at sunset or sunrise, or a single star glimpsed through a curtain of cloud.
Some precision would add a great deal to the poem. Vagueness is a mere distraction.
6. Another tautology! If she 'lived unknown' then how could anyone know when she 'ceased to be'?
'Ceased to be', a mealy-mouthed and cliched euphemism for dying, that no serious poet would use.
7. What difference Mr Wordsworth? You have gone to a great deal of trouble to tell us that you never met the 'maid' and that next to nothing was known about her.
Perhaps she was a serial killer fleeing the law?
Perhaps she had contracted some disgusting venereal disease after a short life of unspeakable depravity.
After all, She lived unknown.
So why are you so affected by her 'death' when there must be so many others more deserving of your sympathy?
You do not even tell us if by 'maid' you refer to a young unmarried girl, or a female servant who has retired to her remote dwelling by the Dove..
Given his background and the cultural context of the poem there is a distinct possibility that in using 'difference' Wordsworth is referring to one of two well known Biblical quotations, Mark 10m 13-16 or Matthew 18 2-6.
As Mark is clearly speaking of very young children I think we can safely dismiss the former. Otherwise we have to see Lucy as a feral child, something like the famous Victor of Aveyyron or as a female Cumbrian Mowgli.
If however, Wordsworth had the more appropriate Matthew 18 in mind then some interesting possibilities arise.
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Could Wordsworth be suggesting that a young serving wench, Lucy, fled to a remote part of the English Lake District after suffering at the hand of an unknown abuser, and subsequently died of her injuries?
That is certainly one possible interpretation.
Now we must ask, is there a possible reason for all the vagueness, tautology and evasion with in the poem?
Wordsworth seems almost determined to give as little information as possible about Lucy and stresses that no one else knew her either.
And yet, 'The difference to me.'!
Could it be this is actually a cathartic poem of abnegation and denial by a rather poor poet?
This is deserving of some detailed research.
For those who want to read more see Examining Lucy, Tawle, Univ Omigosh 1976 .