The Lady of Shalott
Ethereal skies and veiled sanctuary
bound in the borders of a reflection.
Chained by a curse and suspended in time,
Until her daring gaze parted the glass,
Shattering stillness and breaking her past.
Now this river winds through mist and trees,
waters dark but still at ease.
Her frail boat drifts along the tide,
with lips parted to sing in kind.
Stories of old woven in that dress,
And a clutched chain carrying her duress.
Two small swallows follow closely behind,
Watching, waiting, biding their time.
Two candles blown, only one stays lit,
Fighting, clamoring at the bit.
Dreaming of reaching Camelot
before her final breath beckons,
Or her chance at love
will die with her last few seconds.
I wrote this poem to both relay/explain the tale of The Lady of Shalott, while also pulling key characteristics from the specific moment in her story that this painting captures. I focused on certain parts of her story, but also instrumental artistic choices found in this painting. One key detail I believe was that the three candles in the painting represent the three fates from Greek mythology, two snuffed out to show they decided she will die and one holding out hope. I also believe that the chain represents how she carries the curse with her despite having broken it. This ties into how I describe the artistic choice of the sparrows as I think the artist included them to allude to how the woman was dying, as “sparrows flying low” is symbolic of an ominous meaning. While most line breaks were intended to aid with the flow of the words, the second to last line broke after the word love to highlight the weight that finding love had in her story. While I wrote the piece from a third person “objective” perspective, it is intended to be reflective in a tragic, yet illustrative way similar to some of the other pieces we have read in class.
I did not use generative AI to create this poem.