Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Fancy: III. Mythical: Mystical: LegendaryFrom “The Lady of Shalott”
Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–1892)Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky,
And through the field the roads run by
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.
Little breezes dusk and shiver
Through 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.
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?
Or at the casement seen her stand?
Or is she known in all the land—
The lady of Shalott?
In among the bearded barley,
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,
Listening, whispers, “’T is the fairy
Lady of Shalott.”
A magic web with colors gay.
She has heard a whisper say
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—
The lady of Shalott.
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near,
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.
An abbot on an ambling pad—
Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
Or long-haired page, in crimson clad,
Goes by to towered Camelot:
And sometimes through the mirror blue
The knights come riding, two and two:
She hath no loyal knight and true—
The lady of Shalott.
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,
Came two young lovers lately wed;
“I am half sick of shadows,” said
The lady of Shalott.
He rode between the barley-sheaves;
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,
That sparkled on the yellow field,
Beside remote Shalott.
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden galaxy.
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 armor rung,
Beside remote Shalott.
Thick-jewelled shone the saddle-leather;
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burned like one burning flame together,
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.
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.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror:
“Tirra lirra,” by the river,
Sang Sir Lancelot.
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;
The mirror cracked from side to side;
“The curse is come upon me!” cried
The lady of Shalott.
The pale yellow woods were waning—
The broad stream in the banks complaining,
Heavily the low sky raining
Over towered Camelot;
Down she came and found a boat,
Beneath a willow left afloat;
And round about the prow she wrote,
The lady of Shalott.
Like some bold seer in a trance,
Seeing all his own mischance—
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—
The lady of Shalott.
That loosely flew to left and right—
The leaves upon her falling light—
Through the noises of the night
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—
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly—
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turned to towered Camelot;
For ere she reached, upon the tide,
The first house by the water-side,
Singing, in her song she died—
The lady of Shalott.
By garden-wall and gallery,
A gleaming shape, she floated by—
A corse between the houses high—
Silent, into Camelot.
Out upon the wharfs they came,
Knight and burgher, lord and dame;
And round the prow they read her name—
The lady of Shalott.
And in the royal palace near
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;
God in his mercy lend her grace—
The lady of Shalott!”