A Writer’s Notebook -The Lady of Shalott

I have changed the background of my blog. I enjoyed the old background for several years and decided it was time for an update. I hope you like the the new background. The details of where I found it:

A site called The Peacock Mirror which is owned and managed by Julia Kerr. It sells gently used books, vintage prints and other items. 

The image I downloaded, The Lady of Shalott, painted by Florence Harrison,  was free. Thanks Julia for having such a lovely image on your site, I’m glad I stumbled across it.

I won’t leave it so long to change the background next time. I enjoy the process of creating a richly coloured and imaged blog.

Best, Elise x

An extract from the poem:

The Lady of Shalott  
by Alfred Lord Tennyson

Part I

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 for ever
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 ” ‘Tis the fairy
Lady of Shalott