The Lady of Shalott by Alfred Lord Tennyson (Ella)

   PART I

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.

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.”

   PART II

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 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.

       PART III

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.

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.

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.

       PART IV

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.

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.

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.

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 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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(Ella) Writing Quotes

Here are some of my favorite writing quotes... Hope you enjoy them! :)

 

"Remember: When people tell you something's wrong or doesn't work for them, they are most always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong" ~Neil Gaiman

 

"Writers Block: when your imaginary friends stop talking to you."

 

"A real writer doesn't just want to write; a real writer has to write."

 

I think it's fairly common for writers to be afflicted with two simultaneous yet contradictory delusions--the burning certainty that we're unique geniuses and the constant fear that we're witless frauds who are speeding toward epic failure." ~Scott Lynch

 

"Writing is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as the headlights, but you make the whole trip that way." ~E.L. Doctorow

 

"Write like nobody's watching."

 

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." ~Ernest Hemingway

 

"A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper."

 

"A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people." ~Thomas Mann

 

 

 

And a final word for today....

 

       I read an essay recently about how humor is one of the most difficult things to write, but if you are looking for a classic author who has humor down perfectly, read "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. I'm in the middle of it and I completely fell in love with Dickens. To quote Bess, "You are probably one of the only teenagers who has ever said 'Dickens is so funny.'" Probably...but really, just read it.



(LiLi) Ask Not What You Can do for Your Story...

       As I sat down to write the other day I began to suffer from extreme writer's block (*ugh*). Why? Because as I sat there, only one question came to mind:

       What do I want the character(s) to do next????

       But then-BAM!- it hit me! Most great authors devote lots of time on deciding what happens next in their stories, right? WRONG. Well, sort of...
      
       Writer's block-I have discovered-is when an author becomes ignorant to their character's "feelings." The author is too busy trying to decide what happens next to even listen to what the characters want to do. Now, I know you're probably thinking "This girl is Cray-ZY! Characters are NOT real people!!!!" I know, I know, but hear me out...
      
       I'm not saying they are, but if you love them enough, they are kind of like your imaginary friends. And you don't thoroughly think out what your imaginary friend is going to do, they just do it!

(LiLi) A Small Post, A Big Celebration

Us Chix would like to wish a happy birthday to our oldest chick, Ella. She is a very talented writer and enjoy writing fiction novels. You can read her bio on her page.

An Author's Writing Tip of the Day:

"If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time — or the tools — to write. Simple as that." – Stephen King




And a writing tip from LiLi:


If you feel the urge to write an intro paragraph to get the creative juices flowing (i.e. My name is...I am six years old...), it's fine. Just be sure to delete it afterwards... Trust me, it works!