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ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON the Lady of Shalott (1842)

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ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON the Lady of Shalott (1842) ALFRED, LORD TENNYSON The Lady of Shalott (1842) And moving thro' a mirror clear Part I That hangs before her all the year, On either side the river lie Shadows of the world appear. Long fields of barley and of rye, There she sees the highway near That clothe the wold and meet the sky; Winding down to Camelot: And thro' the field the road runs by There the river eddy whirls, To many-tower'd Camelot; And there the surly village-churls, And up and down the people go, And the red cloaks of market girls, Gazing where the lilies blow Pass onward from Shalott. Round an island there below, The island of Shalott. Sometimes a troop of damsels glad, An abbot on an ambling pad, Willows whiten, aspens quiver, Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad, Little breezes dusk and shiver Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad, Thro' the wave that runs for ever Goes by to tower'd Camelot; By the island in the river And sometimes thro' the mirror blue Flowing down to Camelot. The knights come riding two and two: Four gray walls, and four gray towers, She hath no loyal knight and true, Overlook a space of flowers, The Lady of Shalott. And the silent isle imbowers The Lady of Shalott. But in her web she still delights To weave the mirror's magic sights, By the margin, willow veil'd, For often thro' the silent nights Slide the heavy barges trail'd A funeral, with plumes and lights By slow horses; and unhail'd And music, went to Camelot: The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd Or when the moon was overhead, Skimming down to Camelot: Came two young lovers lately wed: But who hath seen her wave her hand? "I am half sick of shadows," said Or at the casement seen her stand? The Lady of Shalott. Or is she known in all the land, The Lady of Shalott? Part III A bow-shot from her bower-eaves, Only reapers, reaping early He rode between the barley-sheaves, In among the bearded barley, The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves, Hear a song that echoes cheerly And flamed upon the brazen greaves From the river winding clearly, Of bold Sir Lancelot. Down to tower'd Camelot: A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd And by the moon the reaper weary, To a lady in his shield, Piling sheaves in uplands airy, That sparkled on the yellow field, Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy Beside remote Shalott. Lady of Shalott." The gemmy bridle glitter'd free, Part II Like to some branch of stars we see There she weaves by night and day Hung in the golden Galaxy. A magic web with colours gay. The bridle bells rang merrily She has heard a whisper say, As he rode down to Camelot: A curse is on her if she stay And from his blazon'd baldric slung To look down to Camelot. A mighty silver bugle hung, She knows not what the curse may be, And as he rode his armour rung, And so she weaveth steadily, Beside remote Shalott. And little other care hath she, The Lady of Shalott. All in the blue unclouded weather Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather, 1 The helmet and the helmet-feather And at the closing of the day Burn'd like one burning flame together, She loosed the chain, and down she lay; As he rode down to Camelot. The broad stream bore her far away, As often thro' the purple night, The Lady of Shalott. Below the starry clusters bright, Some bearded meteor, trailing light, Lying, robed in snowy white Moves over still Shalott. That loosely flew to left and right— The leaves upon her falling light— His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd; Thro' the noises of the night On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode; She floated down to Camelot: From underneath his helmet flow'd And as the boat-head wound along His coal-black curls as on he rode, The willowy hills and fields among, As he rode down to Camelot. They heard her singing her last song, From the bank and from the river The Lady of Shalott. He flash'd into the crystal mirror, "Tirra lirra," by the river Heard a carol, mournful, holy, Sang Sir Lancelot. Chanted loudly, chanted lowly, Till her blood was frozen slowly, She left the web, she left the loom, And her eyes were darken'd wholly, She made three paces thro' the room, Turn'd to tower'd Camelot. She saw the water-lily bloom, For ere she reach'd upon the tide She saw the helmet and the plume, The first house by the water-side, She look'd down to Camelot. Singing in her song she died, Out flew the web and floated wide; The Lady of Shalott. The mirror crack'd from side to side; "The curse is come upon me," cried Under tower and balcony, The Lady of Shalott. By garden-wall and gallery, A gleaming shape she floated by, Part IV Dead-pale between the houses high, In the stormy east-wind straining, Silent into Camelot. The pale yellow woods were waning, Out upon the wharfs they came, The broad stream in his banks complaining, Knight and burgher, lord and dame, Heavily the low sky raining And round the prow they read her name, Over tower'd Camelot; The Lady of Shalott. Down she came and found a boat Beneath a willow left afloat, Who is this? and what is here? And round about the prow she wrote And in the lighted palace near The Lady of Shalott. Died the sound of royal cheer; And they cross'd themselves for fear, And down the river's dim expanse All the knights at Camelot: Like some bold seër in a trance, But Lancelot mused a little space; Seeing all his own mischance— He said, "She has a lovely face; With a glassy countenance God in his mercy lend her grace, Did she look to Camelot. The Lady of Shalott." 2 Ulysses It little profits that an idle king, By this still hearth, among these barren crags, Match'd with an aged wife, I mete and dole Unequal laws unto a savage race, That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. I cannot rest from travel: I will drink Life to the lees: All times I have enjoy'd Greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those That loved me, and alone, on shore, and when Thro' scudding drifts the rainy Hyades Vext the dim sea: I am become a name; For always roaming with a hungry heart Much have I seen and known; cities of men And manners, climates, councils, governments, Myself not least, but honour'd of them all; And drunk delight of battle with my peers, Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy. I am a part of all that I have met; Yet all experience is an arch wherethro' Gleams that untravell'd world whose margin fades For ever and forever when I move. How dull it is to pause, to make an end, To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use! As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life Were all too little, and of one to me Little remains: but every hour is saved From that eternal silence, something more, A bringer of new things; and vile it were For some three suns to store and hoard myself, And this gray spirit yearning in desire To follow knowledge like a sinking star, Beyond the utmost bound of human thought. This is my son, mine own Telemachus, To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle,— Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil This labour, by slow prudence to make mild A rugged people, and thro' soft degrees Subdue them to the useful and the good. Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere Of common duties, decent not to fail In offices of tenderness, and pay Meet adoration to my household gods, When I am gone. He works his work, I mine. There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail: There gloom the dark, broad seas. My mariners, Souls that have toil'd, and wrought, and thought with me— That ever with a frolic welcome took The thunder and the sunshine, and opposed Free hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old; Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, 3 Some work of noble note, may yet be done, Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods. The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks: The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends, 'T is not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho' We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. from The Princess: Tears, Idle Tears Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean, Tears from the depth of some divine despair Rise in the heart, and gather to the eyes, In looking on the happy Autumn-fields, And thinking of the days that are no more.
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