Shalott

The Lady of Shalott is my favorite poem. It's about a girl who is locked in a tower alone and only allowed to see the world through mirrors. She weaves beautiful art everyday with colored thread. One day, she sees Lancelot and falls in love with him. She breaks the mirrors and a horrible storm starts up and she is forced to get on a boat that she carves her name on and dies in the water.

The Lady Of Shalott by Lord Tennyson

On either side the river lie Long fields of barley and of rye, That clothe the wold and meet the sky; And through the field the road run 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 Through 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 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 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; There the river eddy whirls, And there the surly village churls, And the red cloaks of 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 through 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 through 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.

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 armor rung Beside remote Shalott.

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, burning bright, 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 through 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.

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 around 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 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.

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 around 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."

Thought that might clear up a few things for those that haven't read the poem.

It's Emilie Autumns take on the "Lady Of Shalott" Story. Where the Lady of Shalott never questioned her curse, and weaved her webs. The Shalott in this song questions "If they're happy, why can't I be." It's that simple...

Like a lot of Emilie Autumn lyrics, this reads to me as a feminist critique of old stories.

Tennyson wrote a big old romantic ballad beloved by 13 year old goth girls everywhere (yes, I'm guilty). She was so alone, she gave up everything for her love of this amazing man even though the best she'd ever get from him was "She had a lovely face." While she was given a little agency, in that she looked rather than sitting and pining forever, she was put in a situation where even looking out her window would destroy her life and kill her.

This song, while being a fair literal retelling, is flat-out railing against the idea that these are the only options. The Autumn singing of the character isn't sad or resigned when the curse destroys her life. She's furious. Punishing women's desires like this is a common theme in fairy tales and literature, and "some drama queen's gonna write a song for me" is poor consolation (to the point of insulting) for the person in the situation.

There are a number more interpretations of both the original and the retelling: It's about disassociation (people who suffer from it often describe the sense of viewing the world only through screens), or the transition from being a 13 year old sappy goth girl to someone who's had real romantic and sexual experiences (you can't go back, and your former perspective 'dies'), or it's even an abusive relationship (seriously, Tennyson, you locked her in a room and told her you'd kill her if she went out and met anyone?)

But in any of those cases, Autumn's adding more personal agency and legitimate protest to the situation.

This song reminds me of a character I played once...Annabel Lee in Still Life With Iris.

It reminds me of the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty, since there's a spinning wheel in her story and she's not allowed to go out in case the curse becomes true. Because she's not allowed to go outside she misses out on so much of her life, including watching the sun go down and the prince of her dreams.

Actually, this song is about the poem "The Lady of Shallott". If you read it, you can see all the references to the poem.

To me this is a song that can really transport you to another place and makes it easy to empathise with the girl Emilie has written about (The Lady of Shalott) I haven't read the poem yet, but i will do as soon as i find it. Although...I can't help but think some of the lyrics written here are wrong?

I was about to fix the lyrics but then I realized I didn't post this song! Anyways, I think Emilie has written the song in such a way that we can still relate to it. I think we all have those moments where we feel locked up and half sick of shadows. We can't always do what we want.

This is such a beautiful song(but I think all of her songs are beautiful..) and I love that it's a refference to "The Lady of Shalott." Before I read the poem I thought that it might be about sleeping beauty... but now having read the poem, I think Emilie does a great job at kind of giving Lady Shalott a voice and having her point of view in this song. This song is full of emotion and even before I read the poem I felt sad after hearing this song. But I think this song is all about fate, which is what I like so much about it since I am a firm believer of fate and that certain things are meant to happen. For instance in the lines "'Cause I know I'm the cursed one I know I'm meant to die." It also works out perfectly since she is part of a story... so she really is "meant to die" as the author intended. I also love the line: "But then I could have guessed it all along 'Cause now some drama queen is gonna write a song for me". Again Emilie is giving her a voice and bringing her outside of the poem and adding on to the story. This is wear the story meets reality(Emily writing the song about the lady of Shalott, a fictional character).