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I
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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. |
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Long fields
of barley and of rye, |
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That clothe
the wold and meet the sky; |
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And through
the field the road runs by |
5 |
To
many-towered Camelot; |
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And up
and down the people go, |
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Gazing
where the lilies blow |
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Round an
island there below, |
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The
island of Shalott. |
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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. |
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Little
breezes dusk and shiver |
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Through
the wave that runs for ever |
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By the
island in the river |
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Flowing
down to Camelot. |
15 |
Four grey
walls, and four grey towers, |
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Overlook
a space of flowers, |
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And the
silent isle imbowers |
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The
Lady of Shalott. |
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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 |
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By slow
horses; and unhailed |
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The shallop
flitteth silken-sailed |
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Skimming
down to Camelot: |
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But who
hath seen her wave her hand? |
25 |
Or at the
casement seen her stand? |
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Or is she
known in all the land, |
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The
Lady of Shalott? |
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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. |
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In among
the bearded barley, |
30 |
Hear a
song that echoes cheerly |
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From the
river winding clearly, |
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Down
to towered Camelot: |
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And by
the moon the reaper weary, |
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Piling
sheaves in uplands airy, |
35 |
Listening,
whispers "'Tis the fairy |
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Lady
of Shalott." |
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II
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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. |
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A magic
web with colors gay. |
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She has
heard a whisper say, |
40 |
A curse
is on her if she stay |
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To
look down to Camelot. |
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She knows
not what the curse may be, |
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And so
she weaveth steadily, |
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And little
other care hath she, |
45 |
The
Lady of Shalott. |
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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. |
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That hangs
before her all the year, |
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Shadows
of the world appear. |
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There she
sees the highway near |
50 |
Winding
down to Camelot; |
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There the
river eddy whirls. |
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And there
the surly village-churls |
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And the
red cloaks of market girls, |
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Pass
onward from Shalott. |
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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. |
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An abbot
on an ambling pad, |
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Sometimes
a curly shepherd-lad, |
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Or long-haired
page in crimson clad |
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Goes
by to towered Camelot; |
60 |
And sometimes
through the mirror blue |
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The knights
come riding two and two: |
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She hath
no loyal knight and true, |
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The
Lady of Shalott. |
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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, |
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For often
through the silent nights |
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A funeral,
with plumes and lights |
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And
music, went to Camelot; |
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Or when
the moon was overhead, |
70 |
Came two
young lovers lately wed; |
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"I
am half sick of shadows," said |
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The
Lady of Shalott. |
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III
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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. |
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He rode
between the barley-sheaves, |
75 |
The sun
came dazzling through the leaves, |
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And flamed
upon the brazen greaves |
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Of
bold Sir Lancelot. |
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A red-cross
knight for ever kneeled |
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To a lady
in his shield, |
80 |
That sparkled
on the yellow field, |
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Beside
remote Shalott. |
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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. |
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Like to
some branch of stars we see |
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Hung in
the golden Galaxy. |
85 |
The bridle
bells rang merrily |
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As
he rode down to Camelot; |
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And from
his blazoned baldric slung |
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A mighty
silver bugle hung, |
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And as
he rode his armour rung, |
90 |
Beside
remote Shalott. |
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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. |
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Thick-jewelled
shone the saddle-leather, |
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The helmet
and the helmet-feather |
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Burned
like one burning flame together, |
95 |
As
he rode down to Camelot. |
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As often
through the purple night, |
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Below the
starry clusters bright, |
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Some bearded
meteor, trailing light, |
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Moves
over still Shalott. |
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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.
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On burnished
hooves his war-horse trode; |
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From underneath
his helmet flowed |
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His coal-black
curls as on he rode, |
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As
he rode down to Camelot. |
105 |
From the
bank and from the river |
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He flashed
into the crystal mirror, |
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"Tirra
lirra," by the river |
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Sang
Sir Lancelot. |
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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, |
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She saw
the water-lily bloom, |
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She saw
the helmet and the plume, |
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She
looked down to Camelot. |
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Out flew
the web and floated wide; |
115 |
The mirror
cracked from side to side; |
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"The
curse is come upon me," cried |
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The
Lady of Shalott. |
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IV
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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"). |
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The pale
yellow woods were waning, |
120 |
The broad
stream in his banks complaining, |
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Heavily
the low sky raining |
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Over
towered Camelot; |
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Down she
came and found a boat |
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Beneath
a willow left afloat, |
125 |
And round
about the prow she wrote |
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The Lady of Shalott. |
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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. |
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Like some
bold seër in a trance, |
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Seeing
all his own mischance-- |
130 |
With a
glassy countenance |
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Did
she look to Camelot. |
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And at
the closing of the day |
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She loosed
the chain, and down she lay; |
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The broad
stream bore her far away, |
135 |
The
Lady of Shalott. |
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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. |
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That loosely
flew to left and right-- |
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The leaves
upon her falling light-- |
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Through
the noises of the night |
140 |
She
floated down to Camelot; |
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And as
the boat-head wound along |
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The willowy
hills and fields among, |
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They heard
her singing her last song, |
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The
Lady of Shalott. |
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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. |
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Chanted
loudly, chanted lowly, |
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Till her
blood was frozen slowly, |
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And her
eyes were darkened wholly, |
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Turned
to towered Camelot. |
150 |
For ere
she reached upon the tide |
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The first
house by the water-side, |
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Singing
in her song she died, |
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The
Lady of Shalott. |
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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, |
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A gleaming
shape she floated by, |
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Dead-pale
between the houses high, |
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Silent
into Camelot. |
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Out upon
the wharfs they came, |
160 |
Knight
and burgher, lord and dame, |
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And round
the prow they read her name, |
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The Lady of Shalott. |
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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. |
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And in
the lighted palace near |
165 |
Died the
sound of royal cheer; |
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And they
crossed themselves for fear, |
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All
the knights at Camelot: |
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But Lancelot
mused a little space; |
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He said,
"She has a lovely face; |
170 |
God in
His mercy lend her grace, |
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The
Lady of Shalott." |
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