As a lover of mythology and legends, I have long fallen for the visual form of myths; most notably the Pre-Raphaelite Paintings. I can write a separate blog post about it, but to mention briefly, Pre-raphaelite paintings are paintings with a style that attentively put abundance of details, brilliant and intense in colors, and capture the melodrama of myths, legends, Shakespeare, Keats, and other poets, sometimes also biblical figures. There is a whole technical and "correct" definition of it, together with a socio-political history and a long list of which painters are technically included as the Pre-raphaelite painters. Let's talk about that another time.
In this post I want to take you to enjoy with me, one of my favorite stories of the Lady of Shalott. She comes from a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. You can find the complete poem here, and because I am one lazy bum today, I will re-post her story as told in this site:
Now on to the pre-raphaelite portrayal of her by various painters.
Here are the Lady of Shalott:
In this post I want to take you to enjoy with me, one of my favorite stories of the Lady of Shalott. She comes from a poem by Lord Alfred Tennyson. You can find the complete poem here, and because I am one lazy bum today, I will re-post her story as told in this site:
The Lady of Shalott is a magical being who lives alone on an island upstream from King Arthur's Camelot. Her business is to look at the world outside her castle window in a mirror, and to weave what she sees into a tapestry. She is forbidden by the magic to look at the outside world directly. The farmers who live near her island hear her singing and know who she is, but never see her.The Lady sees ordinary people, loving couples, and knights in pairs reflected in her mirror. One day, she sees the reflection of Sir Lancelot riding alone. Although she knows that it is forbidden, she looks out the window at him. The mirror shatters, the tapestry flies off on the wind, and the Lady feels the power of her curse.
An autumn storm suddenly arises. The lady leaves her castle, finds a boat, writes her name on it, gets into the boat, sets it adrift, and sings her death song as she drifts down the river to Camelot. The locals find the boat and the body, realize who she is, and are saddened. Lancelot prays that God will have mercy on her soul.The Lady of Shalott is a magical being who lives alone on an island upstream from King Arthur's Camelot. Her business is to look at the world outside her castle window in a mirror, and to weave what she sees into a tapestry. She is forbidden by the magic to look at the outside world directly. The farmers who live near her island hear her singing and know who she is, but never see her.
The Lady sees ordinary people, loving couples, and knights in pairs reflected in her mirror. One day, she sees the reflection of Sir Lancelot riding alone. Although she knows that it is forbidden, she looks out the window at him. The mirror shatters, the tapestry flies off on the wind, and the Lady feels the power of her curse.
An autumn storm suddenly arises. The lady leaves her castle, finds a boat, writes her name on it, gets into the boat, sets it adrift, and sings her death song as she drifts down the river to Camelot. The locals find the boat and the body, realize who she is, and are saddened. Lancelot prays that God will have mercy on her soul.
Now on to the pre-raphaelite portrayal of her by various painters.
Here are the Lady of Shalott:
And a painting illustrating the final moment of the Lady of Shalott
I love you my Lady!
No comments:
Post a Comment