She dwelt among th' untrodden ways
   Beside the springs of Dove,
A 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 liv'd unknown, and few could know
   When Lucy ceas'd to be;
But she is in her Grave, and Oh!
   The difference to me.

(Wordsworth, "She dwelt among th' untrodded ways," untitled in Lyrical Ballads (1800).)

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Romantic Circles / Electronic Editions / The Last Man / Quotation: 1.4

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