The Lady Of Shalott

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1842

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

"The Lady of Shalott” consists of 20 stanzas total, divided into four parts. Each stanza has nine lines, many of which contain eight syllables, though some contain five or seven. All lines but the final line of each stanza, containing the word “Shalott,” are composed in tetrameter, meaning that they contain four metrical feet. The refrain is trimetric, containing three feet instead of four. The stressed rhythm of the poem’s meter switches between iambic and trochaic. An iambic foot is made up of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, while a trochaic foot is the reverse: a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable. Tennyson occasionally adds syllables to facilitate the shift in rhythm, demanding attention from the reader and momentarily interrupting the poem’s musical flow. Tennyson rarely uses enjambment, and almost all phrases are contained within a single line.

The poem’s division of stanzas and parts allows for a clear breakdown of the story, wherein each part contains a distinct section of the plot. Part 3, for instance, details the arrival of Sir Lancelot and ends with the Lady of Shalott’s climactic decision, and Part 4 covers her boat ride to Camelot and tragic death. While the poem is lyrical and rhythmic, the alternation between iambic and trochaic tetrameter adds a level of complexity, enhancing the story’s gravity and elevating the poem beyond the lyrical comfort of lighter verse.

Anaphora and Repetition

Tennyson makes consistent use of anaphora, wherein the same word begins multiple, succeeding lines. This type of repetition is used to illustrate scenery, list descriptive elements, and emphasize the actions and feelings of the Lady of Shalott. For example, the word “therefore” at the beginning of the lines “Therefore she weaveth steadily, / Therefore no other care hath she” (Lines 43, 44) accentuates the relationship between the Lady of Shalott’s work and her mood. The first four lines of the 13th stanza all begin with the word “She,” driving home the significance of her decision to stop weaving and highlighting her own agency and self-determination in the matter through repetition of the singular pronoun.

Rhyme

Each nine-line stanza in “The Lady of Shalott” follows the same rhyme scheme: “AAAABCCCB,” wherein B is always “Camelot” and “Shalott.” Almost all of Tennyson’s rhymes are true rhymes, and there are a number of internal rhymes. For instance, “yellow-leaved” rhymes with “green-sheathed” in the first stanza, and “sunbeam with “stream” in the second. Tennyson’s commitment to this rhyme scheme and to the poem’s closed form are typical of his work and that of his contemporaries.

Assonance, Consonance, and Alliteration

Repeated vowel and consonant sounds abound in “The Lady of Shalott.” The abbot is “ambling” (line 56), the “yellow woods” are “waning” (Line 119), and Sir Lancelot is described as having a “broad clear brow” and “coal-black curls” (Lines 100, 103). Along with Tennyson’s tight rhyme scheme and closed form, his close attention to sounds allows the poem to flow musically and exemplifies his virtuosic lyrical ability.

Personification

The landscape around Shalott is not simply a passive, pastoral decoration. The “fields of barley and of rye… clothe the wold” (Lines 2-3). Trees “shiver” and “quiver,” painting a picture of a motion-filled landscape, full of life. When the Lady of Shalott breaks her curse, the river is “in his banks complaining” (Line 120). Personification of the landscape serves two purposes for Tennyson. First, it amplifies his juxtaposition of the stationary, stagnant towers of Shalott with the living outside world. Second, it complements the poem’s supernatural subject matter, creating a medieval world in which the distinction between the laws of science and a magical, incorporeal worldview become blurred.