Source Database: EXPLORING Poetry

SOURCE CITATION

	I
1	On either side the river lie	(1-9)This poem starts off by giving a visual overview of the situation. The reader is shown the river and the road, and, far in the distance, the towers of Camelot. The people mentioned in this section are not given specific identities, rather, they are common people going about their daily business. It is from their perspective that the poem first shows Shalott, an island in the river.
	Long fields of barley and of rye,
	That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
	And through the field the road runs by
5	To many-towered Camelot;
	And up and down the people go,
	Gazing where the lilies blow
	Round an island there below,
	The island of Shalott.
10	Willows whiten, aspens quiver,	(10-18) The imagery here is of nature, of freedom, of movement. This is contrasted with the inflexible, colorless walls and towers of Camelot in line 15. The flowers in the next line are not described by their colors or even by their motion in the breeze, but are "overlooked" by the grey walls, as if they are held prisoner. This tone of severity in the middle of nature's healthy activity prepares the reader for the introduction of the Lady of Shalott in line 18.
	Little breezes dusk and shiver
	Through the wave that runs for ever
	By the island in the river
	Flowing down to Camelot.
15	Four grey walls, and four grey towers,
	Overlook a space of flowers,
	And the silent isle imbowers
	The Lady of Shalott.
	By the margin, willow-veiled,	(19-27) Lines 19-23 focus again on the human activity going on around the island: small river barges pass with heavy loads, small, quick boats called "shallops" skim past the shore around the tower, referred to here as a "margin." With all of this activity, the poem asks who has seen the woman who lives in the tower, implying that she is mysterious, unknown, "veiled."
20	Slide the heavy barges trailed
	By slow horses; and unhailed
	The shallop flitteth silken-sailed
	Skimming down to Camelot:
	But who hath seen her wave her hand?
25	Or at the casement seen her stand?
	Or is she known in all the land,
	The Lady of Shalott?
	Only reapers, reaping early	(28-36) In the fourth stanza of Section I, the imagery changes from relying on the senses of sight and touch (as implied by the plants' motions in the wind in stanza 2) to the sense of sound. The poem tells us that the lady who lives in the tower has not been seen, and is known only to the farmers who hear her singing while they work in their fields so early in the morning that the moon is still out. Because they never see her but only hear her singing, the reapers think of the Lady of Shalott as a spirit, a "fairy." Up to this point, the reader has not been introduced to her either, and knows only as much about her as those outside of the tower know.
	In among the bearded barley,
30	Hear a song that echoes cheerly
	From the river winding clearly,
	Down to towered Camelot:
	And by the moon the reaper weary,
	Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
35	Listening, whispers "'Tis the fairy
	Lady of Shalott."
	II
	There she weaves by night and day	(37-45) The Lady seems to be happy where she is: her songs echo "cheerily" (line 30) and she weaves her picture in happy, gay colors (line 38), and she has no care in the world other than weaving (line 44). In this stanza, though, the reader finds out that the Lady will have a curse visited on her if she looks at Camelot. This idea combines many familiar themes: readers generally recognize the maiden trapped in the tower from the tale of Rapunzel or the maiden placed under a spell from the story of Sleeping Beauty; in addition, according to Greek myth, Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, avoided men who wanted to court her while her husband was away by constantly weaving, but then unravelling her work at night so that she would never be done. This is an appropriate allusion because both Penelope and the Lady of Shalott use their craft as a substitute for human involvement. Strangely, the Lady does not know why she has to avoid direct interaction, nor does she seem to care.
	A magic web with colors gay.
	She has heard a whisper say,
40	A curse is on her if she stay
	To look down to Camelot.
	She knows not what the curse may be,
	And so she weaveth steadily,
	And little other care hath she,
45	The Lady of Shalott.
	And moving through a mirror clear	(46-54) Not able to look directly at the world out of her window, the Lady observes it through a mirror. This stanza describes a few of the things she sees in that mirror. The images she sees are described as "shadows." According to the Greek philosopher Plato, we experience life like a person would who was chained up inside of the mouth of a cave: he cannot see out, he can only see the shadows of people passing the cave flickering on the wall and he thinks that the shadows are reality. In that same way we all, according to Plato, mistake images of reality for actual reality, which we cannot see. For the Lady of Shalott, reality is not the broad landscape but the images (Tennyson calls them "shadows") she sees in the mirror.
	That hangs before her all the year,
	Shadows of the world appear.
	There she sees the highway near
50	Winding down to Camelot;
	There the river eddy whirls.
	And there the surly village-churls
	And the red cloaks of market girls,
	Pass onward from Shalott.
55	Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,	(55-63) The people in this stanza are in motion, going about their busy lives while hers is solitary and static. Reflected in her mirror she sees a group of happy girls, a clergyman, a page, and, sometimes, the knights of Camelot, riding in columns.
	An abbot on an ambling pad,
	Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
	Or long-haired page in crimson clad
	Goes by to towered Camelot;
60	And sometimes through the mirror blue
	The knights come riding two and two:
	She hath no loyal knight and true,
	The Lady of Shalott.
	But in her web she still delights.	(64-72) The action of the poem begins in this stanza, where the Lady's attitude changes: in line 55, she is delighted with the picture she is weaving of the outside world, but in line 71, the first time she speaks, she says she is unhappy with her situation. In between the two, she observes people participating in events--a funeral is mentioned first, then a wedding--that make her aware of how lonely it is to be unable to participate.
65	To weave the mirror's magic sights,
	For often through the silent nights
	A funeral, with plumes and lights
	And music, went to Camelot;
	Or when the moon was overhead,
70	Came two young lovers lately wed;
	"I am half sick of shadows," said
	The Lady of Shalott.
	III
	A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,	(73-81)The image of Sir Lancelot shoots into the Lady's mirror with the force of an arrow fired from the roof just outside of her bedroom window. The description that Tennyson gives of the knight mixes his bold, powerful look with his chivalrous actions. Sunlight glints on his shiny armor, making him look as if he is on fire, and the speaker of the poem also tells us that he is the type of knight who always, even if dressed for battle, took time to kneel when he encountered a lady. His knighthood confirms that he is a man of the highest honor and nobility.
	He rode between the barley-sheaves,
75	The sun came dazzling through the leaves,
	And flamed upon the brazen greaves
	Of bold Sir Lancelot.
	A red-cross knight for ever kneeled
	To a lady in his shield,
80	That sparkled on the yellow field,
	Beside remote Shalott.
	The gemmy bridle glittered free,	(82-90) This second stanza of Section III shifts the description of Lancelot from the visual to the audible. The bells of his bridle ring "merrily" as he rides, his armor rings as well, and in his equipment belt, the "baldric", is a "mighty bugle" the musical notes of which communicate the situation at hand.
	Like to some branch of stars we see
	Hung in the golden Galaxy.
85	The bridle bells rang merrily
	As he rode down to Camelot;
	And from his blazoned baldric slung
	A mighty silver bugle hung,
	And as he rode his armour rung,
90	Beside remote Shalott.
	All in the blue unclouded weather	(91-99) This stanza, in which Sir Lancelot is likened to a meteor, glowing as if he were on fire, splendid in his armor and "trailing light," serves to emphasize what an impressive sight he was as he rode toward Camelot.
	Thick-jewelled shone the saddle-leather,
	The helmet and the helmet-feather
	Burned like one burning flame together,
95	As he rode down to Camelot.
	As often through the purple night,
	Below the starry clusters bright,
	Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
	Moves over still Shalott.
100	His broad clear brow in sunlight glowed;	(100-108) After the intricate description that the reader has been given of Lancelot, it is in this stanza, in line 106, that the Lady is able to see him for the first time. Tennyson says that he "flashed into the crystal mirror," which is fitting because his shining armor seems to flash everywhere he goes, but it is especially appropriate because the Lady earlier referred to the images in her mirror as "shadows" (line 71), which are of course dark and dull. Also of significance is that Sir Lancelot sings. The immediate cause of the Lady's attraction to him, the thing that prompts her to look out of the window, is not visual, but audible; here Tennyson suggests the fullness of life that the Lady cannot avoid any longer. Lancelot sings a traditional folk refrain, which would be historically accurate and would invoke a sense of nostalgia in readers of Tennyson's time.
	On burnished hooves his war-horse trode;
	From underneath his helmet flowed
	His coal-black curls as on he rode,
	As he rode down to Camelot.
105	From the bank and from the river
	He flashed into the crystal mirror,
	"Tirra lirra," by the river
	Sang Sir Lancelot.
	She left the web, she left the loom,	(109-117) Although it is Sir Lancelot's singing that makes the lady tempt fate by going to the window and looking out, she never actually sees him, just his helmet and the feather upon it. The irony of this is buried, however, within the rush of mystical occurrences which indicate that the curse the Lady mentioned in line 40 is indeed real; the mirror cracks, the tapestry unravels. This could also be given a psychological interpretation, with the events that are presented as "actually" happening being explained as symbols of what is going on in the Lady's head: in this interpretation, the moment the woman becomes involved in the outside world her sense of self (the mirror) and of her accomplishments (the tapestry) comes apart, as if social interaction is a curse to the ego.
110	She made three paces through the room,
	She saw the water-lily bloom,
	She saw the helmet and the plume,
	She looked down to Camelot.
	Out flew the web and floated wide;
115	The mirror cracked from side to side;
	"The curse is come upon me," cried
	The Lady of Shalott.
	IV
	In the stormy east-wind straining,	(118-126) The season has changed--earlier in the poem, when the barley was being harvested (lines 28-29), the setting was late summer; line 119 describes an autumn scene (the falling leaves of line 138 support this). Although the time described does not seem to allow for a change of seasons, the magical element (most obvious in the unexplained source of the Lady's curse) creates an atmosphere where this compression of time is not unreasonable. It is significant that the Lady takes the time to write her name on the side of the boat: if one accepts the interpretation that the mirror symbolizes self-knowledge, then she is a woman whose identity has been "shattered" at this point of the poem. She has no name to sign, just a title ("Lady") and a location ("Shalott").
	The pale yellow woods were waning,
120	The broad stream in his banks complaining,
	Heavily the low sky raining
	Over towered Camelot;
	Down she came and found a boat
	Beneath a willow left afloat,
125	And round about the prow she wrote
	The Lady of Shalott.
	And down the river's dim expanse	(127-135) "Mischance" means misfortune or bad luck--the Lady understands that she is doomed as she looks toward Camelot, which had been so attractive to her that it (in the person of Sir Lancelot) forced her to look, sealing her fate. Earlier, she looked at Camelot through a mirror, seeing it where her own reflection would normally be; in line 130 the look on her face ("countenance") is described as glassy, which suggests the mirror, but does not reflect.
	Like some bold seër in a trance,
	Seeing all his own mischance--
130	With a glassy countenance
	Did she look to Camelot.
	And at the closing of the day
	She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
	The broad stream bore her far away,
135	The Lady of Shalott.
	Lying, robed in snowy white	(136-144) "They" mentioned in line 143 are the reapers who earlier in the poem were so charmed by the Lady's voice.
	That loosely flew to left and right--
	The leaves upon her falling light--
	Through the noises of the night
140	She floated down to Camelot;
	And as the boat-head wound along
	The willowy hills and fields among,
	They heard her singing her last song,
	The Lady of Shalott.
145	Heard a carol, mournful, holy,	(145-153) The death of the Lady of Shalott is surrounded with standard death images: cold, darkness, and mournful singing, among others. This is a transitional stanza, connecting the dying woman's departure with the dead woman's arrival at Camelot.
	Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
	Till her blood was frozen slowly,
	And her eyes were darkened wholly,
	Turned to towered Camelot.
150	For ere she reached upon the tide
	The first house by the water-side,
	Singing in her song she died,
	The Lady of Shalott.
	Under tower and balcony,	(154-162) The Lady's corpse is described as "dead-pale" and "gleaming," providing a stark visual contrast to the night as she floats past Camelot. Tennyson lists the occupants of the castle in line 160, as they are probably becoming aware of the Lady's existence for the first time, although she was very aware of theirs. They are described as curious, out of their houses and onto the wharf to look, walking around to read the front of the boat. This stanza ends leaving the reader to anticipate what effect the sight will have on the people of Camelot.
155	By garden-wall and gallery,
	A gleaming shape she floated by,
	Dead-pale between the houses high,
	Silent into Camelot.
	Out upon the wharfs they came,
160	Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
	And round the prow they read her name,
	The Lady of Shalott.
	Who is this? and what is here?	(163-171) In the first five lines of this stanza, the initial curiosity of the people of Camelot turns to fear, the primitive fear of seeing a dead person, and the way these Christian people respond in order to protect themselves when frightened is to make the sign of the cross. Tennyson brings this entire long poem to a climax at this point: the Lady of Shalott was so enchanted with the idea of Camelot that she eventually was forced to look out of the window to see it herself, and in these lines she produces an emotional effect that is almost equally as strong. But Lancelot, whose stunning presence affected the Lady so personally that it ultimately drew her to her death, looks at her, thinks for "a little space", and finally, dispassionately, remarks that she is pretty. Tennyson makes Lancelot's next line a standard benediction of the time that might have been said over anyone, whether friend or stranger.
	And in the lighted palace near
165	Died the sound of royal cheer;
	And they crossed themselves for fear,
	All the knights at Camelot:
	But Lancelot mused a little space;
	He said, "She has a lovely face;
170	God in His mercy lend her grace,
	The Lady of Shalott."

Source Citation: "'The Lady of Shalott' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson." EXPLORING Poetry. Gale Research, 1998. Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. December, 2000. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC/

Document Number: CD2114221803

Source Citation: "Explanation: 'The Lady of Shalott' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson." EXPLORING Poetry. Gale Research, 1998.
Reproduced in Student Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. December, 2000. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC/

Document Number: CD2114721803