The Lady of Shalott
This poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson is exciting for many reasons. The poem has a dramatic narrative, includes exciting events, has a beautiful heroine and a handsome hero. It also has strong characters, old language and a fast and exciting tempo. It is set in the time of Arthur and the king of the round table. It is about a young lady named 'The Lady of Shalott' who has a fairytale image surrounding her. When people hear her singing they say, She lives on the island of Shalott near to the town of Camelot, where she is trapped inside a tower, in a castle within, 'Four grey walls and four grey towers' She is not allowed to leave the tower or look directly out of the window, because she has been cursed. No one has ever seen her, but they know she is in the tower because they hear her singing, early in the morning. This adds extra interest to the poem, making it more mysterious. She passes the days by weaving tapestries on her web, of the things she sees through the reflection in her mirror. She also notices many people going down to Camelot: 'a long-haired page in crimson clad.' 'market girls in red cloaks', 'a curly haired shepherd lad', 'an abbot on an ambling pad'
The second stanza sets off the loving imagery and there is sound imagery too, to set the scene and let you feel the sounds, all these sounds add to the excitement, Part III brings about, a sense of lust and passion surrounding, In Part I there is a lot of movement described, for example, "Flowing down to Camelot." 'Out flew the web and floated wide'. The language used by Alfred, Lord Tennyson also makes the poem exciting. He uses language, to show a change. He also uses exciting colour imagery, "barley'", "dazzling", "flamed", her life, then when she sees the knights ride past, she begins to realise how lonely she actually is and doubt sets in as, 'she hath no loyal knight'. Then when she sees, 'two young lovers lately wed' in the moonlight, she becomes aware of what she is missing out on, romance, and she is almost upset, 'I am half sick of shadows'.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Lady Shalott, Sir Lancelot', Lady Shalott', Lord Tennyson, Sir Lancelot, II III, Camelot II, Camelot Unfortunately, lady shalott, sir lancelot, lady shalott', , Alfred Lord, web left loom, paces thro' water-lily, god mercy, helmet plume, lancelot saying, lovely god, loom paces thro', hear singing, poem sir lancelot, looked camelot', thro' water-lily bloom, 'the lady,
Approximate Word count = 1246
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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