But at night I would wander away, away,
I would fling on each side my low-flowing locks, And lightly vault from the throne and play
With the mermen in and out of the rocks; We would run to and fro, and hide and seek,
On the broad sea-wolds in the crimson shells, Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea. But if any came near I would call, and shriek, And adown the steep like a wave I would leap
From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells; For I would not be kiss'd by all who would list, Of the bold merry mermen under the sea; They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me, In the purple twilights under the sea; But the king of them all would carry me, Woo me, and win me, and marry me, In the branching jaspers under the sea; Then all the dry pied things that be In the hueless mosses under the sea Would curl round my silver feet silently, All looking up for the love of me. And if I should carol aloud, from aloft
All things that are forked, and horned, and soft Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea, All looking down for the love of me.
My hope and heart is with thee thou wilt be A latter Luther, and a soldier-priest
To scare church-harpies from the master's feast; Our dusted velvets have much need of thee: Thou art no Sabbath-drawler of old saws, Distill❜d from some worm-canker'd homily; But spurr'd at heart with fieriest energy To embattail and to wall about thy cause With iron-worded proof, hating to hark The humming of the drowsy pulpit-drone Half God's good Sabbath, while the worn-out clerk Browbeats his desk below. Thou from a throne Mounted in heaven wilt shoot into the dark
Arrows of lightnings. I will stand and mark.
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 forever
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, ""T is the fairy Lady of Shalott "
THERE she weaves by night and day A magic web with colors 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.
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 forever 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, 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
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.
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.
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