THE LADY OF SHALLOT by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Alfred Lord Tennyson is regarded as the chief representative of the Victorian era. All the intellectual tendencies of the age are reflected in his poetry. “The Lady of shallot” is a narrative poem in four parts that takes us into the atmosphere of medieval romance.

The poem begins with a description of a river and a road that passes through the fields of Barley and Rye. The people of the town travel along the road which faces an island called Shallot, which lies in the middle of the river. The island of Shallot contains several plants and flowers, including lillies, aspens and willows. On the island, a woman known as the lady of Shallot is imprisoned within a building made up of ‘four grey walls and for grey towers’.

Both ‘heavy barges’ and light open boats sail along the edge of the river to Camelot. People pass along the road of the river but, still no one has seen the Lady of Shallot. Only the reapers who harvest the Barley hear the echo of her singing. At night the tired reapers listen her singing and thinks that it is fairy who is singing.

The Lady of Shallot weaves a magic, colorful web. She has heard a voice whisper that a curse will befall her if she looks down to Camelot and she doesn’t know what this curse is. But still she concentrates solely on her weaving, and never lifts up her eyes.

However, as she weaves, a mirror hangs before her. In the mirror she sees ‘shadows of the world’ including the highway road, which also passes through the field. Occasionally she also sees a group of damsels, church officials, a young shepherd, or a page dressed in crimson.

A knight in brass armor come riding through the fields of barley beside Shallot. The sun shines on his armor and makes it to sparkle. As he rides, the gems on his horse bride glitter like a star and the bells on the bridle ring. The knight’s armor makes ringing noises as he gallops alongside the remote island of Shallot.

The jewels on the Knight’s saddle shines, making him look like a meteor in the purple sky. His forehead glows in the sunlight and his black curly hair flows out from under the helmet. As he passes by the river, his image flashes in the Lady of Shallot’s mirror and she could hear him singing ‘tira lirra’. Upon seeing and hearing this knight the lady stops weaving her web and abandons her loom. The web flies out from the loom and the mirror cracks. The Lady herself announces the arrival of her doom.

The sky breaks out in rain and storm. The lady of Shallot descends from her tower and finds a boat. She writes the words ‘The Lady of Shallot” around the boat’s bow and looks downstream to Camelot like a prophet foreseeing his own misfortunes. She lies down in the boat and the stream carries her to Camelot.

The Lady of Shallot wears a snowy white dress and sings her last song as she sails down to Camelot. She sings until her blood freezes, her eyes darken and she dies when her boat sails silently into Camelot. All the knights, lords and ladies of Camelot emerge from their halls to behold this sight. They feel a little afraid on reading the name on the bow. Only the great knight Lancelot is bold enough to push aside the crowd and look closely at the dead maiden. He praises her beauty and prays to God to show mercy on her for the peace of her soul.

---- HAPPY LEARNING------