Loreena Mccennitt The Lady Of Shalott Lyrics

The Lady Of Shalott Lyrics

By Alfred Lord Tennyson (1843)

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 run by
To many-towered 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 grey
walls, and four grey towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent
isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.

Only reapers, reaping early,
In
among the beared 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 heat 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;
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.

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.

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 thro' the room,
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.

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."