by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
A bow‑shot from her bower‑eaves
Language: English
Available translation(s): FRE
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.
The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
Like to some branch of stars we see
Hung in the golden Galaxy.
The bridle bells rang merrily
As he rode down to Camelot:
And from his blazon'd baldric slung
A mighty silver bugle hung,
And as he rode his armour rung,
Beside remote Shalott.
All in the blue unclouded weather
Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
The helmet and the helmet-feather
Burn'd like one burning flame together,
As he rode down to Camelot.
As often thro' the purple night,
Below the starry clusters bright,
Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
Moves over still 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 flash'd 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 look'd down to Camelot.
Out flew the web and floated wide;
The mirror crack'd from side to side;
'The curse is come upon me!' cried
The Lady of Shalott.
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. 3 [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), "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves", published 1884 [ soprano, SSA chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 3, London, Novello [sung text not yet checked]
- by Carl Reinhold Busch (1862 - 1943), "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves", published 1894 [ soprano, mixed chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 3, Boston, White-Smith [sung text not yet checked]
- by Christopher Montague Edmunds (1899 - 1990), "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves ", published 1926 [ SA chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 3, London, Stainer & Bell [sung text not yet checked]
- by Maurice Jacobson (1896 - 1976), "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves ", published 1942 [ tenor, SATB chorus, orchestra ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 3, London, Curwen [sung text not yet checked]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves", op. 36 no. 3 (1944) [ voice and piano ], from The Lady of Shalott, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Phyllis Margaret Duncan Tate (1911 - 1987), "A bow-shot from her bower-eaves", 1956 [ tenor, viola, percussion, 2 pianos, cello ], from cantata The Lady of Shalott, no. 3, 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):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2015-02-19
Line count: 45
Word count: 254