Lyr Add: The Lady of Shalott (Tennyson/McKennitt)

Subject: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shalott (Tennyson)
From: Ezio
Date: 10 Jan 98 - 02:11 AM

THE LADY OF SHALOTT
(Alfred Lord Tennyson)

On either side of the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the world and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road 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.

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 grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
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
The Lady of Shalott."

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.

And moving through 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;
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.

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.

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 back to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
he flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Terra Libra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces taro' 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.

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 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

And down the river's dim expanse
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.

Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
Till her blood was frozen slowly,
And her eyes were darkened wholly,
Turn'd to towered 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.

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.

Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted 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."

-------------------
Sung by McKennitt on "The visit"
Music by Loreena McKennitt; lyrics by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 05:10 PM

Tennyson wrote "Tirra lirra"--is "Terra libra" an Italian emendation?

Ezio, when you post lyrics by Tennyson, Yeats, etc., I hope you search for them on the Web before doing all that typing!

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Bruce O.
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 06:15 PM

Tennysons description of Camelot doesn't fit well with the following:

'King Arthur, the True Story' by Graham Phillips & Martin Keatman, has an artists recreation of the 'real' Camelot, if there was a real Camelot, that is. I am not convinced that their Arthur was Owain Ddantgwyn, but they seem on solid ground that Viriconium in Powys was abandoned about the time of the civil war, concluded by the battle of Camlann, c 520. They point out that very close to the time of abandonment of Viriconum Maelgwyn (Maglocunos) became King in Wales and Cuneglassus in Powys. This last is history, not tales. At any rate they have four pictures of the partially excavated ruins of Viriconium (their Camelot) and an artist's reconstruction of how it might have looked.

None of the Welsh tales that mention Arthur, or Geoffery of Monmouth, have any Camelot and the Welsh tales have no Lancelot, or Morgan le Fay, or many others. Urien, actually lived later than Arthur's time).

I have been constructing a family tree for Arthur, based solely on Welsh sources, but need information from the Welsh Triads to fill in some gaps for names and relationships. The family tree in Norma Lorre Goodrich's 'King Arthur', p. 49, said to be from Bromwich, is obviously fouled up, and she has fouled up elsewhere, too. Anybody out there have any of Rachel Bromwich's books or articles? Is Goleuddydd the mother (Goodrich) or husband (Culhwch and Olwen) of Kilydd? Is Custenhin her brother (Goodrich) or brother-in-law (Culhwch & Olwen)? The Welsh tales make sense, but if Goodrich is right, then the Welsh tales must be wrong.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Bruce O.
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 06:18 PM

I forgot to add that I just posted Maelgwn's bard's history to the Lyr Add: I was born about 10,000 yers ago.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 06:42 PM

I agree that the pursuit of the historical King Arthur is fascinating, but mostly because Arthur is fascinating, and that's mostly because of the wonderful stories in Malory, Chretien de Troyes, etc. For me, the "real" King Arthur is the one in The Once and Future King.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Bruce O.
Date: 12 Jan 98 - 07:06 PM

The book I noted by Phillips and Keatman gives a facsimile of Nenius's? MS where Arthur is mentioned, and his battles cited. There is also a bare mention of Arthur in the Goddodin. That's the end of the facts as far as any 'real' Arthur is concerned, nothing new has been found in over a thousand years. This is scant proof that there was a real Arthur.

I'm not trying to prove anything about a real Arthur, but am trying to understand how the foreign (French, German and Anglo-Saxon English tales might have been derived from Welsh (or Britons/ Cymri) ones, and what Welsh characters were given new names later.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Ezio
Date: 14 Jan 98 - 03:38 AM

To Jerry Friedman

On 12-Jan-98 - 05:10 PM you wrote: >Tennyson wrote "Tirra lirra"--is "Terra libra" an Italian > emendation? > >Ezio, when you post lyrics by Tennyson, Yeats, etc., >I hope you search for them on the Web before doing all >that typing!

Thank you Jerry, you are right - I'm sorry for the misprint.

However I'm not completely guilty, as the lyric (and the typo) comes from the official L. McKennitt site (http://www.wbr.com/mckennitt/lyrics4.html) maintained by Quinlan Road. I saw this lyric at this site - I verified it was missing in DT - I posted it by 'cutting and pasting'. That's all. I really couldn't spot the typo. By the way, what 'Tirra lirra' means?

Sorry, there's no Italian emendation. Maybe the misprint (or emendation, as you call it) is British or American.

Bye

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Jerry Friedman
Date: 14 Jan 98 - 01:09 PM

Bruce, the point of my comment (though I didn't quite say it) was that even if Tennyson had known that the real Arthur's castle might have been Viriconium, there's no reason to expect (and no reason for me to want) his description in the poem to match the conjectured history. I do appreciate your historical information, though!

Ezio, I'm glad you didn't type all that! Another typo, incidentally, is "taro'" for "thro'" (=through) a couple of lines below "Tirra lirra".

"Tirra lirra" is just nonsense syllables for singing. Tennyson may have chosen them instead of "Fa la la la" or "Hey non nonny" partly because they jingle with "mirror" in the previous line and elsewhere in the poem.

I doubt very much that "Terra libra" is a typo. It's Latin for "free land", right? I thought it might be the same in Italian (how would you say it?), which is why I asked whether you changed it--especially after those partisan songs. Since you didn't, maybe Loreena McKennitt thought she'd throw in a little political slogan where she could.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From:
Date: 04 Dec 98 - 10:09 AM

Who is Owain Ddantgwyn

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Bruce O.
Date: 06 Dec 98 - 02:09 AM

I'll tell you when I relocate my book. My recollection is King of Powwys and Gwynned, which were split on his death, c 500 C.E. between his son and his nephew Maelgwyn (Maglocunus).

Usually most is written about that which we know least about, because there is so much room for speculation. I read last knight that there were about 20,000 volumes on the lost city of Atlantis.

Probably next is King Arthur. Not every thing about him, his knights and their adventures is on a website, but enough to keep one busy for quite some time is at: Click

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: GUEST,geoff
Date: 25 Mar 00 - 06:54 AM

I am search for GCSE study notes on lady of shalott. If you know where I can get them please leave a message.I also need notes on tennysons Morte D'Arthur. Chears

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Mar 00 - 01:37 PM

Anne Lister sings this, with her own tune, and it's on a CD she did a few years back called "Spreading Rings" - and very fine it is too, as everything she writes and sings is. If Loreena McKevitt's version is anywhere near as good, it must be very good indeed.

At 8 minutes and a bit, Anne's version shows why talk of a three-minute limit for songs (on the current song writing thread) is just a rule of thumb to be ignored at need.)

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 25 Mar 00 - 01:48 PM

True; but it takes a very long time to learn to write to Tennyson's standard!

Malcolm

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 25 Mar 00 - 06:19 PM

It's not so much the time as other things - Tennyson's juvenilia was pretty good.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Llanfair
Date: 25 Mar 00 - 06:25 PM

I am also fascinated by the Arthurian legends, since reading "The Sword in the Stone" as a child.
Bruce O, I don't know where you are, but if you need any info gathered "on site" as 'twere, let me know. Legend and oral history are very powerful here in Powys, and there is plenty of evidence of very early settlement up to and including the Romans. The area around Oswestry is said to be strongly associated with Arthur. Hwyl, Bron.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: T in Oklahoma (Okiemockbird)
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 12:17 AM

Fascinating to me is Tennyson's transformation of the story of the Maid of Ascalot. He follows tradition more closely in "Lancelot and Elaine". There the maid is simply a girl who falls in love with Lancelot. In "The Lady of Shalott" he turns the maid of Ascalot into a solitary living under an enchantment. I haven't yet found any precedent for this version in prior Arthurian tradition. I suspect it was Tennyson's own invention.

T.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 05:57 AM

ok Tennyson fans -from my youth I remember something along the lines of Then rose the King and moved his host by night And ever push Sir Mordred league by league back to the sunset bound of Lyonesse A land of old, upheaven from the abyss To sink into the abyss once more Where fragments of forgotten people dwelt And the long mountains ended in coast of ever shifting sand anf far away the phantom circle of a moaning sea there the pursuer could pursue no more and he that fled no further fly the king. and there, that day ,when the great light of heaven burned at its lowest in the rolling year on the waste land by the waste sea they closed..... Anybody remeber anymore or what the title of the poem is, because I do not think it is Morte D'Arthur. Anyway, I was always told that Arthur and his knights were buried under Alderley Edge, waiting for the day England plunges into darkest peril (kept their bloody heads down when Thatcher was elected didn't they?)

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Linda Kelly
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 05:59 AM

oh Gawd, me breaks didn't work!!! many apologies!!

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Caitrin
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 09:45 AM

I'll have to check with my mom about Tennyson inventing the Lady of Shalott...she's our house Arthur expert.
I'm with Jerry...Arthur is fascinating because of the tales about him. Without all the myth and magic, he's just another dead king.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 08:07 PM

Then rose the King and moved his host by night
And ever push Sir Mordred league by league
back to the sunset bound of Lyonesse
A land of old, upheaven from the abyss
To sink into the abyss once more
Where fragments of forgotten people dwelt
And the long mountains ended in coast
of ever shifting sand and far away
the phantom circle of a moaning sea
there the pursuer could pursue no more
and he that fled no further fly the king.
And there, that day ,when the great light of heaven
burned at its lowest in the rolling year
on the waste land by the waste sea they closed...

I thought I'd beat Joe Offer to it with the breaks - hope I got them in the right places...

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 08:23 PM

Could it be William Morris? Possibly from The Earthly Paradise?

William Morris's Arthurian approach to Arthuriuan legend is very different from Tennysons. I prefer it - partly maybe because of the great story of William Morris sitting weaving some fabric and roaring out some Arthurian poem he was making up. And stopping and saying something like -"Well, if this is poetry, it's not so hard." (And maybe I'm influenced by politics as well.)

Here's a link to some of Morris's poems anyway.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 26 Mar 00 - 08:25 PM

Here's the William Morris link, I hope

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: GUEST,aldus
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 09:56 AM

As much as I like the version of this poem by Loreena McKennit...her lyrics do not follow Tennyson exactly...this is reflected in the words quoted above.

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Ringer
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 12:04 PM

Who else but William Morris could start a long narrative poem with the word "But"? (Defence of Guinivere)

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Clinton Hammond2
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 12:44 PM

King of the Who???

LOL!!
If yer at all interested in an interesting resolution to the Arthur Cycle, read The Fionavar Tapestry by Canadian author Guy Gavriel Kay... A damn good tale, even if libertys are taken with the legends... {~`

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Barbara
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 02:44 PM

Excuse me, it's a lovely romantic poem, (and Anne Lister's version stops me in my tracks, makes my neck fur rise) but What the hey actually happens?
Sir Launcelot rides near, she sees him, he heads home, she looks after him, and the curse falls?
Or is it -- Sir Lancelot rides near, she sees him,[... something happens ...] he heads home, she looks after him, and the curse falls?
Is there any other version of this story that involves the enchantment? What happens in the story of the maid of Ascalot?
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 07:11 PM

As I uunderstand it, the curse is that she mustn't look at things directly, but has to see through a mirror. Lancelot appeals to her so much that she ignores the curse, and looks directly, and dies.

A bit similar to the way Theseus avoids being turned to stone by the sight of Medusa by using a polished shiled as a mirror to see her by.

So you can take it as a symbol of the terrible dange of getting involved with real life. A good one for us on the Mudcat maybe?

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From:
Date: 27 Mar 00 - 11:24 PM

The passage above that begins with "Then rose the King and moved his host by night..." is actually from Alfred Lord Tennyson. It is from his _Idylls of the King: The Passing of Arthur_.

My usual territory is folk songs for Renaissance Festivals and the SCA, but I've been drawn to Tennyson since I was young. Just my 2p!

http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/rp/poems/tennyson55.html

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: GUEST,wavestar
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 12:48 AM

Loreena McKennit's version is actually true to the original in the verses she sings, but she skips out about seven verses, if I recall... As for what actually happens, the curse is unspecified, but she is not to look out and see anything that the magic mirror does not show her, or it will crack... she dies because she lweaves the tower and the magic, not because of the curse. She falls in love, and dies of her love..

I'd love to here Anne Lister's version... where can I get it?

-J

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Barbara
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 01:45 AM

Here's one of the famous little blue clicky things for Anne Lister's website. The song is on Spreading Rings. Anne sings all the verses.
Blessings,
Barbara

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: John Nolan
Date: 28 Mar 00 - 10:44 PM

Ezio: Not to be picky, but I think that in line 3, the "wold," (meaning an open tract of ground) is clothed, and not the "world".

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LADY OF SHALOTT (Alfred Lord Tennyson
From: Barbara
Date: 29 Mar 00 - 01:56 AM

At the risk of making this even longer to load, here is the complete poem:
THE LADY OF SHALOTT
(Alfred Lord Tennyson)

On either side of 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-towered 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 grey walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

By the margin, willow-veil'd,
Slide the heavy barges trail'd
By slow horses; and unhailed
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."

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.

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 the market girls
Pass onward from Shalott.

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.

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.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewelled 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 flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

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 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.

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 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

And down the river's dim expanse
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.

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 darkened wholly,
Turn'd to towered 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.

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.

Who is this? And what is here?
And in the lighted 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."

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: MMario
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 03:30 PM

be fresh!

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jul 04 - 01:24 PM

Would any who feel they know who is "the real" Arthur please email me?
I'm terribly interested in the historical side of this great man, even if he was only the Dux Bellorum. Most people forget that this is no small feat. Thank you all :) [e-mail]

Subject: RE: LYR ADD: The Lady of Shallott
From: Lighter
Date: 26 Jul 04 - 10:14 AM

Whatever you do, ignore the current film!