On either side the river lie | On either side the river lie

On either side the river lie

Language: English

Our translations: FRE

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.'

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• D. Holman

D. Holman sets stanzas 1-2

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir. The Oxford Book of English Verse. Oxford: Clarendon, 1919, [c1901]; Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/101/700.html.

Text Authorship:

by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in The Lady of Shalott, no. 1 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Wilfred Ellington Bendall (1850 - 1920), "On either side the river lie", published 1884 [ soprano, SSA chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 1, London, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
by Carl Reinhold Busch (1862 - 1943), "On either side the river lie ", published 1894 [ soprano, mixed chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 1, Boston, White-Smith [sung text not yet checked]
by Christopher Montague Edmunds (1899 - 1990), "On either side the river lie ", published 1926 [ SA chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 1, London, Stainer & Bell [sung text not yet checked]
by Derek Holman (b. 1931), "Towered Camelot", 2009, first performed 2009, stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from The Four Seasons, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Maurice Jacobson (1896 - 1976), "On either side the river lie ", published 1942 [ tenor, SATB chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 1, London, Curwen [sung text not yet checked]
by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "On either side the river lie", op. 36 no. 1 (1944) [ voice and piano ], from The Lady of Shalott, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
by Phyllis Margaret Duncan Tate (1911 - 1987), "On either side the river lie ", 1956 [ tenor, viola, percussion, 2 pianos, cello ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 1, London, Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]

The text above (or a part of it) is used in the following settings:

by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The Lady of Shalott", published 1929 [ mezzo-soprano, SA chorus, piano, optional strings ], London, Curwen
by Cyril Bradley Rootham (1875 - 1938), "The Lady of Shalott", 1909-10 [ mezzo-soprano, SATB chorus, orchestra ]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2015-02-19
Line count: 36
Word count: 193