The Lady of Shalott - Loreena McKennitt

On either side of the river lie

Long fields of barley and of rye

That clothe the wold and meet the sky;

And thro' the field the road run by

To many-towered Camelot;

And up and down the people go

Gazing where the lilies flow

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 grey walls, and four grey towers

Overlook a space of flowers

And the silent isle embowers

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

The Lady of Shalott.»

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 knows not what the curse may be

And so she weaveth steadily

And little other care hath she

The Lady of Shalott

And moving through a mirror clear

That hangs before her all the year

Shadows of the world appear

There she sees the highway near

Winding down to Camelot;

And sometimes thro' the mirror blue

The knights come riding two and two

She hath no loyal knight and true

The Lady Of Shalott

But in her web she still delights

To weave the mirror’s magic sights

For often thro' the silent nights

A funeral, with plumes and lights

And music, went to Camelot;

Or when the moon was overhead

Came two young lovers lately wed

«I am half sick of shadows,» she said

The Lady Of Shalott

A bow-shot from her bower-eaves

He rode between the barley sheaves

The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves

And flamed upon the brazen greaves

Of bold Sir Lancelot

A red-cross knight for ever kneel’d

To a lady in his shield

That sparkled on the yellow field

Beside remote Shalott

His broad clear brow in sunlight glow’d;

On burnish’d hooves his war-horse trode;

From underneath his helmet flow’d

His coal-black curls as on he rode

As he rode down to Camelot

From the bank and from the river

He flashed into the crystal mirror

«Tirra Lirra,» by the river

Sang Sir Lancelot

She left the web, she left the loom

She made three paces thro' the room

She saw the water-lily bloom

She saw the helmet and the plume

She looked down to Camelot

Out flew the web and floated wide;

The mirror cracked from side to side;

«The curse is come upon me,» cried

The Lady of Shalott

In the stormy east-wind straining

The pale yellow woods were waning

The broad stream in his banks complaining

Heavily the low sky raining

Over towered Camelot;

Down she came and found a boat

Beneath a willow left afloat

And round about the prow she wrote

The Lady of Shalott

And down the river’s dim expanse

Like some bold seer in a trance

Seeing all his own mischance —

With a glassy countenance

Did she look to Camelot

And at the closing of the day

She loosed the chain and down she lay;

The broad stream bore her far away

The Lady of Shalott

Heard a carol, mournful, holy

Chanted loudly, chanted lowly

Till her blood was frozen slowly

And her eyes were darkened wholly

Turn’d to towered Camelot

For ere she reach’d upon the tide

The first house by the water-side

Singing in her song she died

The Lady of Shalott

Under tower and balcony

By garden-wall and gallery

A gleaming shape she floated by

Dead-pale between the houses high

Silent into Camelot

Out upon the wharfs they came

Knight and burgher, lord and dame

And round the prow they read her name

The Lady of Shalott

Who is this?

And what is here?

And in the lighted palace near

Died the sound of royal cheer;

And they crossed themselves for fear

All the knights at Camelot;

But Lancelot mused a little space

He said, «She has a lovely face;

God in his mercy lend her grace

The Lady of Shalott.»