These shadows include highway roads that pass through fields, the peasants of the town, and the eddies in the river. In this mirror, she sees the shadows of the world. While weaving, a mirror is hanging before her. Therefore, she only focuses on her weaving and does not lift her eyes. However, she is not aware of what the curse would be. She has heard someone saying that if she looks down at Camelot, a curse will befall on her.

The Lady of Shalott is weaving a colorful, magical web. At night time, only the tired reaper hear singing and whispering, “‘ Tis the fairy Lady of Shalott. She is only heard by the reapers who harvest barley. However, no one heard or seen of the Lady living on the island. A lady, known as Lady of Shalott, is imprisoned on an island in a building made up of “four gray walls and four gray towers.”Īlong the edge of the river to Camelot, there are heavy barges and light open boat sail. The island contains several flowers and plants. While traveling along the road, the people of town look towards an island known as Shalott. The poem opens with the description of a road and river that crosses the long fields of rye and barley and reaches the town of Camelot.

While Part Two and Part Three of the poem deals with how Lady Shalott views the world. Part One and Part Four of the poem focus on the Lady of Shalott from the perspective of the outside world. However, he feared that the expansion of subjection matter to the broader territories would destroy his magic of poetry. He wants to talk about his own immediate experiences, comment on history, politics, and humanity. Tennyson feels obliged to look for a subject matter outside the world of his own mind. The poem also appears to express the personal dilemma for Tennyson as an artist. Thus, the poem captures the conflict between the desire of an artist for social involvement and his or her skepticism if her act is viable for the one who is dedicated to art. When she sets her art aside and gaze down to the real world, she meets her tragic end and curse befall on her. There is a Lady who sings in a remote tower and wears a magic web that appears to represent the artistic isolation from the activity and bustle of life.

The poem “The Lady of Shalott” is about the conflict between life and art. The charm of the poem is rooted in its elusiveness and mastery. The poem includes a reference to the Arthurian legend, and “Shalott” appears to be very close to “Astolat” in Malory’s work. However, the poem is similar to the story of the Maid of Astolat in Morte d’Arthur by Malory. Lord Alfred Tennyson claimed that he based the poem on an old Italian romance. The poem was revised and published in 1942. The poem “The Lady of Shalott was originally written in 1832 by Lord Alfred Tennyson.

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