Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Lady of Shalott

By Alfred, Lord Tennyson

Part I.
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;

And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Thro' the wave that runs for ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.

Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow-veil'd
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhail'd
The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
Skimming down to Camelot:

But who hath seen her wave her hand?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land,
The Lady of Shalott?

Only reapers, reaping early
In among the bearded barley,
Hear a song that echoes cheerly
From the river winding clearly,
Down to tower'd Camelot:

And by the moon the reaper weary,
Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott."

10 fellow footsteps:

Barb said...

Wow.. that was beautiful!

Psst.. go check Critique My Blog..

Callie Ann said...

Congrats on your Review. Yes, I am giving it away. But, Hey it's posted so I am going for it. You could be in bed already and wouldn't know yet.
Congrats. Proud of you girl!!!

Carrie said...

Thank you, thank you!!! :D :D

Mags said...

That's beautiful...very fantastic and I love the way it flows...

(Hope I spelled everything right this time!)

;)

Anonymous said...

Asara,

I'll add your posts to the vocabulary database sometime next week, which means I'll have your word clouds up the week after that. Should be interesting to see what the spell-checker does with "imbowers," "hath," and the rest.

I'll let you know when I put up the post. Thanks for volunteering!

DirkStar said...

Thats what blogging needs, more culture!

Nice poem...

Carrie said...

Thanks!

This is only part one of I think four... I'll post the rest over time if people are interested. :)

Mo and The Purries said...

Tennyson is my favorite poet.
Did you know that?
I think this poem goes so well with your Wordless Wednesday picture!

Durward Discussion said...

If you haven't visited this one before, it is one of the best I've ever found on The Lady of Shallot

Carrie said...

Jamie - thanks a lot! I always loved the painting, and meant to look more at the story behind it. Very interesting link :)