“The Lady of Shalott” Summary

“The Lady of Shalott” Themes

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  Artistic Isolation

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  Victorian Women's Sexuality

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Lady of Shalott”

• Lines 1-18

  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 19-36

  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."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 37-45

  There she weaves by night and day
  A magic web with colours 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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 46-54

  And moving thro' a mirror clear
  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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 55-72

  Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
  An abbot on an ambling pad,
  Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
  Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
         Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
  And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
  The knights come riding two and two:
  She hath no loyal knight and true,
         The Lady of Shalott.
  But in her web she still delights
  To weave the mirror's magic sights,
  For often thro' 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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 73-90

  A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
  He rode between the barley-sheaves,
  The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
  And flamed upon the brazen greaves
         Of bold Sir Lancelot.
  A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
  To a lady in his shield,
  That sparkled on the yellow field,
         Beside remote Shalott.
  The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
  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 blazon'd baldric slung
  A mighty silver bugle hung,
  And as he rode his armour rung,
         Beside remote Shalott.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 91-108

  All in the blue unclouded weather
  Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
  The helmet and the helmet-feather
  Burn'd like one burning flame together,
         As he rode down to Camelot.
  As often thro' the purple night,
  Below the starry clusters bright,
  Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
         Moves over still Shalott.
  His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
  On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
  From underneath his helmet flow'd
  His coal-black curls as on he rode,
         As he rode down to Camelot.
  From the bank and from the river
  He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
  "Tirra lirra," by the river
         Sang Sir Lancelot.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 109-117

  She left the web, she left the loom,
  She made three paces thro' the room,
  She saw the water-lily bloom,
  She saw the helmet and the plume,
         She look'd down to Camelot.
  Out flew the web and floated wide;
  The mirror crack'd from side to side;
  "The curse is come upon me," cried
         The Lady of Shalott.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 118-126

  In the stormy east-wind straining,
  The pale yellow woods were waning,
  The broad stream in his banks complaining,
  Heavily the low sky raining
         Over tower'd Camelot;
  Down she came and found a boat
  Beneath a willow left afloat,
  And round about the prow she wrote
         
  The Lady of Shalott.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 127-135

  And down the river's dim expanse
  Like some bold seër 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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 136-153

  Lying, robed in snowy white
  That loosely flew to left and right—
  The leaves upon her falling light—
  Thro' 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.
  Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
  Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
  Till her blood was frozen slowly,
  And her eyes were darken'd wholly,
         Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
  For ere she reach'd upon the tide
  The first house by the water-side,
  Singing in her song she died,
         The Lady of Shalott.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 154-162

  Under tower and balcony,
  By garden-wall and gallery,
  A gleaming shape she floated by,
  Dead-pale 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.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 163-171

  Who is this? and what is here?
  And in the lighted palace near
  Died the sound of royal cheer;
  And they cross'd 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."

  

  

  

  

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“The Lady of Shalott” Symbols

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  Weaving

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  The Mirror

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  Sir Lancelot

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  Camelot

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  Autumn and the Harvest

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  Flowers

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  Fire and Light

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“The Lady of Shalott” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Aporia

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Asyndeton

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Refrain

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“The Lady of Shalott” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Barley and rye
• Clothe the wold
• Thro'
• Camelot
• Willows and aspens
• Quiver
• Imbowers
• Barges
• Unhail'd
• Shallop
• Flitteth
• Hath
• Casement
• Reapers
• Cheerly
• Sheaves
• Uplands
• Web and loom
• Gay
• Eddy
• Churls
• Abbot on an ambling pad
• Page
• Bow-shot
• Bower-eaves
• Brazen greaves
• Sir Lancelot
• Gemmy bridle
• Blazon'd baldric
• Bugle
• Bearded meteor
• Burnish'd
• Tirra lirra
• Waning
• Prow
• Seër
• Mischance
• Countenance
• Carol
• Ere
• Wharfs
• Burgher

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Lady of Shalott”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Lady of Shalott” Speaker

“The Lady of Shalott” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Lady of Shalott”

More “The Lady of Shalott” Resources

• External Resources

  • A cartoon response — The modern-day cartoonist Kate Beaton with a feminist take on the poem.

  • Tennyson's Voice — Tennyson speaks! This is an early wax-cylinder recording of Tennyson reading another of his most famous poems, "The Charge of the Light Brigade." (This particular video also creepily animates a photo of his face.)

  • Side-by-Side Comparison of the Versions of "Shalott" — Tennyson wrote his first draft of "The Lady of Shalott" in 1833, and revised it substantially; the version we're using here is from 1842. In comparing the two versions, what do you notice? Why might Tennyson have made the changes he did?

  • A Short Biography of Tennyson — The Poetry Foundation's Tennyson page, with a short biography and links to more of his poems.

  • Art Inspired by the Poem — John William Waterhouse's famous interpretation of "The Lady of Shalott." Tennyson's poem was a popular subject for Pre-Raphaelite artists like Waterhouse; search for "Lady of Shalott" and "Pre-Raphaelite" to find many more Victorian painters' takes on the poem.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by Alfred Lord Tennyson

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  • Crossing the Bar

  • Tears, Idle Tears

  • The Brook

  • The Charge of the Light Brigade

  • The Eagle

  • The Kraken

  • Tithonus

  • Ulysses