One of my favorite poems is Alfred, Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott (1832). The language, imagery, and story it tells captivate me entirely. As it is a rather long poem, I plan on sharing it in the four separate parts to which Tennyson assigned it. I have never read it this way before, so I'm looking forward to a new experience with this poem. I hope to note both the distinctions and links between the four parts, and in so doing deepen my appreciation for each of them and the whole poem, as well.
The Lady of Shalott
Part I
On either side the river lie
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;
The yellow-leaved
waterlily
The green-sheathed
daffodilly
Tremble in the water
chilly
Round about Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens
shiver.
The sunbeam showers
break and quiver
In the stream that
runneth 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.
Underneath the bearded
barley,
The reaper, reaping late
and early,
Hears her ever chanting
cheerly,
Like an angel, singing
clearly,
O'er the stream of
Camelot.
Piling the sheaves in
furrows airy,
Beneath the moon, the
reaper weary
Listening whispers, '
'Tis the fairy,
Lady of Shalott.'
The little isle is all
inrail'd
With a rose-fence, and
overtrail'd
With roses: by the marge
unhail'd
The shallop flitteth
silken sail'd,
Skimming down to
Camelot.
A pearl garland winds
her head:
She leaneth on a velvet
bed,
Full royally apparelled,
The Lady of Shalott.
What are your thoughts on Part I?
Do you have a favorite line or description?
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