theladyofshalott

The Lady of Shalott: A Victorian Ballad | Alfred Tennyson

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I chose this lovely illustrated edition of Tennyson‘s The Lady Of Shalott for the #KindredSpiritsBuddyRead and thoroughly enjoyed it. I already have several passages memorized from watching the 1985 Anne of Green Gables movie over and over again starting when I was 9😆. This poem is so Anne, if that makes sense. Haunting, romantic and melancholy. Thanks for organizing @BarbaraJean ! 5⭐️

#LMMadjacent
#poetry
#classics

TorieStorieS I was obsessed with that adaptation of Anne of Green Gables, too!! My mom has a weird DVD version but it will not play on our blue ray player and I haven‘t seen it in sooooo long!!! 😭 3mo

JenlovesJT47 @TorieStorieS I became obsessed with these movies when I first watched them with my grandma when I was 9! I have the DVDs but they skip and are kind of expensive to replace but I still have one DVD player in the house that plays VHS tapes also so I have to whip out those if I want to watch it. I remember saving my allowance money to buy them back in the day when they were $25 each! 😅 I never get tired of those movies. Gilbert was my first crush! 3mo

TorieStorieS I used to borrow my aunt‘s VHS tapes but I am not sure where they ended up! I wish they were streaming somewhere! And yes, Gilbert Blythe was always the best!! The book was the first book to make me cry and I do re-read the book pretty often! 3mo

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JenlovesJT47 @TorieStorieS I still remember the first time I watched Anne of Avonlea, not knowing what was going to happen. I was so scared they were going to let Gilbert die and was on the edge of my seat! 😅 3mo

BarbaraJean I\'m pretty sure that the 1985 Anne miniseries is where I first became familiar with this poem! And yes, this poem is SO Anne. Can\'t you just see how Tennyson must have influenced her and the \“Story Club\“?! 3mo

JenlovesJT47 @BarbaraJean yes absolutely! 3mo

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BarbaraJean

The Lady of Shalott | Alfred Lord Tennyson, Keith Seddon, Jocelyn Almond

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent - The Lady of Shalott and Lancelot & Elaine discussion

Could either of these poems be seen as an allegory?

What themes do you see that would have been relevant for women in the mid-1800s?

How might either text contain parallels for women today?

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

TheAromaofBooks I like this question but am not sure how to put my answer into words 😂 I\'ll continue to contemplate and come back. 3mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks 😂 I have to admit I looked up some study questions for both poems—I hadn\'t even thought about parallels to Victorian women until I did that! One of the study guides talked about how Elaine\'s confinement in the tower could be seen as the control placed on Victorian women (keeping them sheltered and pure, etc.) and her looking out at Lancelot would be defying societal norms, followed by consequences (the fallen woman always dies!)⬇ (edited) 3mo

BarbaraJean (Cont\'d) All of that made SO much sense, whether that was intentional by Tennyson or not. And it got me thinking about parallels to today, with expectations that are placed on women and what happens when we don\'t conform. I mean, I\'ve never been shut up in a tower and told I had to just keep weaving & not look out the window, but people sure had opinions when I was still single at age 35 and they sure have opinions about me not having kids. 3mo

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BarbaraJean

The Lady of Shalott | Alfred Lord Tennyson, Keith Seddon, Jocelyn Almond

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.

🖼️: “I Am Half-Sick of Shadows, Said the Lady of Shalott” by John William Waterhouse

#KindredSpiritsBuddyRead #LMMAdjacent ⤵️

rubyslippersreads, JenlovesJT47, lauraisntwilder, TheAromaofBooks, julieclair

BarbaraJean (Cont‘d) I‘ve loved this Tennyson poem for so long—I think I became familiar with it from watching the Anne of Green Gables miniseries when I was about 10 years old. Later, I became obsessed with the Pre-Raphaelites, who were also captivated by Tennyson‘s Lady of Shallot. Then in college, I fell in love with this Loreena McKennitt song, the lyrics of which are all taken directly from Tennyson‘s poem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxFF03IbIlY 3mo

rubyslippersreads I already spy two book titles! 3mo

BarbaraJean @rubyslippersreads Ha! Yes! That‘s one of the things I love about reading classics—spotting the sources of so many later references! 3mo

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willaful @BarbaraJean Yes! I used to want to write a book just so I could use a quotation title. 😂 3mo

Bookwomble I love this poem, and the several paintings Waterhouse did based on it. Thank you for posting this ☺️ 3mo

Aimeesue @rubyslippersreads Yes! Miss Marple and Flavia! 💙 3mo

TheAromaofBooks There were a couple of lines in this poem that made me say, \“oh! That\'s where that comes from!\“ 😂 3mo

BarbaraJean @Bookwomble You‘re welcome! I love this poem, too—and had a hard time choosing which Waterhouse image to post! 3mo

BarbaraJean @TheAromaofBooks Hahaha—I love having that experience! 3mo

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Bookwomble

Lady of Shalott | Alfred Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson

This again! I need a comfort read this evening
😞➡️📖➡️😌

Leftcoastzen What a beautiful edition! 3y

Bookwomble @Leftcoastzen Yes, it's nice 🙂 Charles Keepings illustrations are wonderful 💗 3y

20 likes2 comments

Bookwomble

The Lady of Shalott | Alfred Tennyson Baron Tennyson, Christine Hall, Martin Coles

"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."

The endpapers of this edition are so well done. Elaine expiring in the boat which resembles a coffin, bearing her to her death & the indifference of Lancelot.

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Bookwomble

The Lady of Shalott | Alfred Tennyson Baron Tennyson, Christine Hall, Martin Coles

A diverting way to spend five minutes, watching a Tate Gallery video about Waterhouse's three paintings inspired by Tennyson's "The Lady of Shallot".
https://youtu.be/6a_b7jSEeB0

14 likes

Bookwomble

The Lady of Shalott | Alfred Tennyson Baron Tennyson, Christine Hall, Martin Coles

"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 looked 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 Shallot."

TrishB Love this ❤️ 5y

Cathythoughts Love ♥️♥️♥️ 5y

18 likes2 comments

Bookwomble

The Lady of Shalott | Alfred Tennyson Baron Tennyson, Christine Hall, Martin Coles

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"The Lady of Shallot" is a short poem, but full of romantic Arthurian images of castles, enchantments, and a doomed damsel.
Tennyson took Malory's tragic story of Elaine of Astolat's unrequited love for Lancelot, changing the knight's churlishness toward Elaine into mere obliviousness, but managing to retain the dreadful sense of the inevitable working out of the curse of a death foretold. I'm tempted to a re-read of "The Idylls of the King" soon.

TrishB That‘s a lovely copy ♥️ 5y

Bookwomble @TrishB It's been popping up as a recommended edition for me on Goodreads for years - it's time was come! 5y

TrishB These things eventually find us! 5y

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