Alfred Tennyson an English poet, one of the great representative figures of the Victorian age. His writing uses many poetic styles and includes some of the finest idyllic poetry in the language. Tennyson was born in Somersby, Lincolnshire, on August 6, 1809. Largely his father, Dr. George Clayton Tennyson, conducted his initial education. The boy showed an early interest and talent in poetic composition, working original poems in a variety of meters and also successfully imitating the style of such famous poets as Lord Byron, whom he greatly admired. By the time he was 15, Tennyson had produced several blank-verse plays and an epic. Some of his boyhood poetry was published in collaboration with his brother Charles in Poems by Two Brothers (1827). Few poets have produced acknowledged masterpieces in so many different poetic genres as Tennyson.
The Lady of Shallot was a beautiful woman who lived alone in a tower on an island in the river that flows down to Camelot. She is held in her room by a curse, which does not allow her to go out or even look out the window. Instead she can only see the world through a mirror, which in some versions of the story is a magic mirror but in most is just a large mirror that allows her to see what is happening in the outside world. She weaves tapestries; pictures made with thread, and use the things she sees in her mirror (scenes of Camelot) as the subject of her tapestries.
"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 gets upset sometimes that she cannot be a part of life outside her window. So when the handsome knight Sir Lancelot passes by her window, she is overwhelmed by him, and forgetting the curse, she looks out the window to see him directly. When she does, the mirror breaks, and the threads of her tapestry break as well. When she goes down to the riverside and finds a boat, and on the front of the boat she writes "The Lady of Shallot". She unties the boat and lies down in it, and as she floats down the river toward Camelot, she sings a song. As the curse works it's evil magic, her blood freezes to her cold death. The boat lands on the shore of Camelot where the people of Camelot come out to see what this is, and they see that she has written her name on the front of the boat. When Sir Lancelot sees the Lady of Shallot he can’t believe how beautiful she was.
“She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."
The poem is a 180 line narrative poem divided into four sections of nine-line stanzas. The verses were made up of 9 lines in each verse with many similes e.g. leather, feather and also there would always be a word that rhymes with Camelot e.g. Camelot, Shalott. The rhyme scheme of the poem is aaaabcccb.
“Remember” is a poem about a person dieing or a person leaving and is telling their love one to remember them when they are gone. For example: Remember me when I am gone away”. This poem is sonnet and is made up of 14 lines. This poem really captures the love between a couple.
The language in the lady of shallot is a very good. It uses good imagery and uses similes to good effect e.g. “Burnd like one burning flames together”. It also uses personification well, such as “some bearded meteor, travelling light”. The tempo of this poem also makes it exciting. In Part I, it is very calm and slow. In Parts II and III, the poem becomes brighter and the rhythm is slightly faster too.
In the last verse of Part III there is a dramatic change in the tempo, there is a definite increase in pace, therefore, an increase in excitement too. The final Part is very slow and quiet, as this is when the Lady of Shalott actually dies and it is showing her journey down to Camelot and the death itself. As soon as Sir Lancelot sees the lady of shalott he says: She has a lovely face; God in his mercy lend her grace”. This is the irony of Sir Lancelot noticing how beautiful she is. The colour of the poem shows the lady sad with the colours grey and black, “four grey walls” and bright colours to describe sir Lancelot, “a mighty silver bungle hung,”.
The rhyme of the poem might seem to add to the effect of sadness and loneliness and with the repetition of Camelot/Shalott in each verse.
The remember poem’s language is very easy to understand and the tone is very sad. It has rhyming couplets e.g. away, stay. It uses personification e.g. “gone far away into the silent land”. It uses iambic pentameter- the pattern of a short syllable followed by a long syllable, repeated five times in every line. Also it is divided by its rhyme scheme into groups of 8 lines then 6 or 4,4,4 and 2 lines. It is a sonnet, which has 14 lines. William Shakespeare is one of the most famous people who wrote sonnets.
Overall I enjoyed reading each poem I found them interesting but maybe the lady of shalott was a bit too long. I think the poem Remember is very sad but has a meaning to it. The meaning could be to love your loved one’s and tell your love one’s you love them because when you cant you will regret it. When good things have gone there is no chance of getting back what you had. The Lady of shallot portrays the themes of love and loss by using the Lady of shallot loving Sir Lancelot and then unfortunately dies and the Remember poem uses the actual poem and its words to tell you about your love ones. It tells you to remember a person when they have gone and maybe not take them for granted when they are there before they are gone.
