“The Lady of Shalott” is one of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s more famous ballads. An English poet, his work generally consisted of Arthurian subject matter based on medieval stories. With an 1833 and an 1842 version, the second is most commonly known. “The Lady of Shalott” is by far my favorite of Tennyson’s poems. Through its use of an intriguing conflict, imagery, unusual vocabulary, and rhyme and repetition, “The Lady of Shalott” is both entertaining and memorable for the reader.
In the poem, a young maiden sits alone in her tower overlooking Camelot. For hours on end, she weaves colorful tapestries while singing beautiful songs. However, if she were to look out the window, a curse would come upon her. Not knowing what that curse may be, she
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It intrigues the reader, making them want to know what the curse is and what happens next. While the conflict is unrealistic, it makes the reader feel The Lady of Shalott’s emotions as she can only see the world through its shadow. There must be somewhat of an internal struggle as she tries to live calmly, not even knowing for sure if the curse is real. It is never explained how this supposed curse came to be and what happened prior, adding on even more to the creepy mood. Tennyson did an amazing job at creating a conflict that would keep the one reading …show more content…
Each stanza has nine lines that are written with a rhyme scheme of a-a-a-a-b-c-c-c-b. For one thing, “The Lady of Shalott” is a ballad. The rhyming throughout is used in a musical way. In fact, there is a lovely song adaptation by Loreena McKennitt. I strongly encourage listening to it. ‘The Lady of Shalott’ is often repeated at the last line. I believe that is used to emphasize the dark and creepy side of the poem. Every time that is repeated, I just get a feeling of sadness for The Lady of Shalott. The way the author uses repetition to tug at the emotions is just phenomenal. That is one sure sign that you are reading a great poem. To demonstrate both of these elements being used, I will choose my absolute favorite stanza in the entire
The poem is written in the style of free verse. The poet chooses not to separate the poem into stanzas, but only by punctuation. There is no rhyme scheme or individual rhyme present in the poem. The poems structure creates a personal feel for the reader. The reader can personally experience what the narrator is feeling while she experiences stereotyping.
The alliteration used is to emphasize rhythm in the poem. On the other hand, the poet also depicts a certain rhyme scheme across each stanza. For example, the first stanza has a rhyme scheme of this manner a, b, c, d, e, a. With this, the rhyme scheme depicted is an irregular manner. Hence, the poem does not have a regular rhythm. Moreover, the poet uses a specific deign of consonance, which is present in the poem (Ahmed & Ayesha, p. 11). The poet also uses the assonance style depicted in the seventh stanza, “Seven whole days I have not seen my beloved.” The letter ‘o’ has been repeated to create rhythm and to show despair in the poem. On the second last line of the seventh stanza, the poet uses the style of consonance, “If I hug her, she’ll drive illness from me. By this, the letter ‘l’ is repeated across the line. The poet’s aim of using this style of Consonance is to establish rhythm in the poem and add aural
Marchino, Lois A. "My Last Duchess." Masterplots II: Poetry Series. Ed. Frank N. Magill. Vol. 4. Pasadena: Salem, 1992. 1443-1445.
Tennyson, Alfred Lord. “Maud; A Monodrama.” Tennyson’s Poetry. Ed. Robert W. Hill New York: W. W. Norton, 1971. 214-215.
Blunden, Edmund and Heinemann, Eds. “Tennyson.” Selected Poems. London: Heinemann Educational Books, 1960. p.1. print.
The first literary device that can be found throughout the poem is couplet, which is when two lines in a stanza rhyme successfully. For instance, lines 1-2 state, “At midnight, in the month of June / I stand beneath the mystic moon.” This is evidence that couplet is being used as both June and moon rhyme, which can suggest that these details are important, thus leading the reader to become aware of the speaker’s thoughts and actions. Another example of this device can be found in lines 16-17, “All Beauty sleeps!—and lo! where lies / (Her casement open to the skies).” These lines not only successfully rhyme, but they also describe a woman who
This poem is written in eleven quatrains. All of these quatrains follow an abcb rhyme scheme. An example of this from lines 1-4 are “toune” being a, “wine” being b, “salior” being c, and “mine” being b. This means that the poem was written in closed form. It also follows a meter with four beats in the a and c lines and three beats in the b lines. An example of the four beats from line 5 is “Up and spak an eldern I Knicht”. The example of three beats from line 6 is “Sat at the kings richt kne”.
Tennyson’s abstract poetic genius in combining historical references and deeply felt emotion, causes comprehension obscurity in finding a single thematic idea. The distinction weaved through the works of “Ulysses” and “The Lady of Shalott” is depicted though the mood, structure, and tone. Although the differences vary heavily, an underlying theme of escaping their idle world appears evident through both pieces of writing. Through Ulysses, a grand warrior, and The Lady of Shalott, a locked away mistress, appear as contrary characters, their development in relinquishing themselves from redundant worlds relates them in various manners.
Tennyson’s poetry is renowned for reflecting a penetrating introspection and meditative expressiveness unsurpassed by other poets of his time. His explorations into a vast breadth of topics ranging from the political to the deeply personal reflect his multifarious enthusiasms, and his ability to reach out to his readers as well as probe the depths of psychological expression. ‘The Lady of Shalott’ and ‘Mariana’, two of his earliest poems, exemplify this ability to communicate internal states of mind through his use of scenery.
The first thing that strikes me about this poem is the structure. The poem is very ordered written with 4 lines a stanza and a total of 6 stanza’s. This looks like a professional poem created by an adult, showing experience right away. The syllables are normally 7 per line but there are exceptions to this rule as all of stanza 5 has 8 syllables a line. The first stanza and the last stanza are nearly the same apart from the last line of each differing by a word. This poem uses many poetic devices well to create a vivid picture in the readers mind. There are rhyming couplets, alliteration, repetition, rhetorical questions as well as many biblical and egotistical references to the artist and poet himself. Now we will look at the poems meanings.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson wrote "The Lady of Shalott" around 1830, during what is known as the Victorian Age. Virginia Woolf published "The Lady in the Looking Glass: A Reflection" in 1929, during what is referred to as the Modernist Age. These works of art both deal with women who have important relationships with mirrors. The light in these stories has a great and different effect and meaning for each of these women. The importance and meaning of light are contrasted in these two tales, representing a change in writer's attitudes toward light portrayal.
Tennyson, although The Lady of Shalott is a fantastic poem, must have encountered many difficulties in writing his poem according to his strict rhyming and syllable pattern. There are a few hiccups in the poem where this is noticeable e.g.; part 1 By the margin, willow-veil'd Slide the heavy ba...
The absence of a specific rhyme pattern also contributes chaos to the tone. The structure of the poem is abstract, much like the characters thoughts and feelings. The rhymes are all over the place and the rhythm is often broken up with words that make it unbalanced and add tension. Another technique the author uses is lots of repetition. This helps to add emphasis and give a more dramatic effect to certain phrases. “Ich, ich, ich, ich,” (932) adds emphasis to her being unable to speak. At some points the repetition sounds a bit childlike showing her inner child. This is evident when she says “and get back, back, back to you” (933). The repetition along with the abundant use of “--oo” sounds and when the author uses terms like “achoo”, “daddy”, “freakish”, “neat”, and “gobbledygoo,” seems to create a Dr. Seuss effect on the poem. It is apparent the naïve child within her is influencing her thoughts and writings. Then, when the dark metaphors and the negative connotation towards her father are added, the tone is set. The internal conflict becomes apparent between the child who loved her “daddy” and the woman who has learned to see the man for what he truly was, a monster.
(24-27) By now the reader might ask him/herself why the Lady of Shalott is stuck in such a dreadful situation and why she does not attempt to do anything about it. There is a constant increase of tension attained by the use of iambic and trochaic tetrameter and an -aaaa bcccb- rhyme scheme repeating in each stanza. This is always interrupted by sudden drops produced by the plosive sound 't' as in 'Camelot';, 'Shalott'; or 'Lancelot'; in lines 5 and 9. The whole scheme could already be seen as an indicator of the omnipresent basic suspense of the poem.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was one of the most famous poets of the Victorian era, some of his most famous poems include Ulysses, In Memoriam or Lady of Shalott. This paper will focus on his poem published in 1830 entitled Mariana. Mariana is Tennyson's well known poem, inspired by the charactre of the same name in shakespear's play Measure for Measure. T.S Eliot heard in Mariana 'something new happening in English verse”, and critics such as Carol Christ or Dwight Culler have “commented preceptively on its use of atomistic detail to create a landscape of strangeness appropriate to this sick-spirited maiden”. Mariana is a complex poem it is both a lyrical poem and a pathetic fallacy.