Illustrated in the poems The Lady of Shalott and Ulysses by Alfred Lord

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Illustrated in the poems The Lady of Shalott and Ulysses by Alfred Lord

Tennyson, The Door by Mir slave Holub and The Girl in Times Square, a

novel by Paulina Simmons.

Change gives us roots; continuity gives us branches letting us stretch

and grow to reach new heights. Living as we know it wouldn’t exist if

change didn’t occur. This ability to continue changing is the only

true security we have. This is illustrated in the poems ‘The Lady of

Shalott” and ‘Ulysses’ by Alfred Lord Tennyson, ‘The Door’ by Mir

slave Holub and ‘The Girl in Times Square’, a novel by Paulina

Simmons.

Tennyson’s ‘The Lady of Shalott’ is divided into four parts, following

a strict and consistent meter and rhyme pattern throughout. The Lady

of Shalott is a magical being who lives alone on the island of Shalott

across the river from fast paced Camelot.

The first 2 parts of the poem illustrate a place where everything

stands still. There is a severe lack in movement and The lady of

shallot’s surroundings appears to be idle. This is illustrated through

the bleak and dull the poem provides.. “Four grey walls and four grey

towers..” “And the silent isle embowers” “Slow horses”. The uneventful

and bland introduction serves its purpose by setting the tone and mood

as a boring one, to only make the end excitingly climatic.

The first and most important change that occurs in this text is the

arrival of Sir Lancelot in Shalott. He is represented through the

imagery of flames, sun, sparkle, glitter, stars, gold, silver, shine,

burning light and glow. It was His mere presence that further sickened

The lady of Shalott of only seeing shadows and compelled her to leave

her loom. The fact that the decision to leave was hers alone, even

t...

... middle of paper ...

...result of choices

among alternate paths offered by the present, but a place that we

create using our minds and will, then in activity. The future is a

place we are creating not going to. The path is to be made not found

and through change she can achieve the most unique and fulfilling

destinations.

It is from the didactive nature of all of these texts we can conclude

that change is inevitable. Change can be positive or negative. With

change comes responsibility, but the price is always worth what we got

for it. The emotive, descriptive language and imagery used in

Tennyson’s poems, symbolism and simplicity of ‘The Door’ and the

mystery of ‘The Girl in Times Square’ all profoundly affect the way I

have viewed change as a necessary element of living, making it so

simple to say that Change by itself is the most powerful agent to

growth and transformation.

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