QuoteProject
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.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote reflects on beauty and the human response to it, encapsulating themes of admiration and the mystique surrounding the Lady of Shalott.

In this excerpt from Tennyson's poem, Lancelot admires the Lady of Shalott's beauty, suggesting an appreciation for artistic or romantic ideals. The passage captures the complexity of human emotions as the knights, surrounded by royal cheer, also experience fear, hinting at the duality of life and the consequences of desire, especially in the context of the Lady's tragic fate.

Themes

BeautyAdmirationMystiqueKnightsTragedy

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a discussion about beauty in art and literature.

More from Alfred Lord Tennyson

Twilight and evening bell, And after that the dark! And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark; For though from out our bourne of Time and Place The flood may bear me far, I hope to see my Pilot face to face When I have crossed the bar.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
How many a father have I seen, A sober man, among his boys, Whose youth was full of foolish noise.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
O Love! what hours were thine and mine, In lands of palm and southern pine; In lands of palm, of orange-blossom, Of olive, aloe, and maize and vine!
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
Earth is dry to the centre,_x000D_ But spring, a new comer,_x000D_ A spring rich and strange,_x000D_ Shall make the winds blow_x000D_ Round and round,_x000D_ Thro' and thro',_x000D_ Here and there,_x000D_ Till the air_x000D_ And the ground_x000D_ Shall be fill'd with life anew.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
O love, O fire! once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul through My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
Alfred Lord TennysonRead
But thy strong Hours indignant work’d their wills, And beat me down and marr’d and wasted me, And tho’ they could not end me, left me maim’d To dwell in presence of immortal youth, Immortal age beside immortal youth, And all I was, in ashes. - Tithonus
Alfred Lord TennysonRead

Similar quotes

In Xanadu did Kubla Khan A stately pleasure-dome decree: Where Alph, the sacred river, ran Through caverns measureless to man Down to a sunless sea.
Samuel Taylor ColeridgeRead
I was glamorous because of magicians like George Folsey, James Wong Howe, Oliver Marsh, Ray June, and all those other great cinematographers. I trusted those men and the other experts who made us beautiful. The rest of it I didn't give a damn about. I didn't fuss about my clothes, my lighting, or anything else, but, believe me, some of them did.
Myrna LoyRead
I hope to refine music, study it, try to find some area that I can unlock. I don't quite know how to explain it but it's there. These can't be the only notes in the world, there's got to be other notes some place, in some dimension, between the cracks on the piano keys.
Marvin GayeRead
A concert is not a live rendition of our album. It's a theatrical event. I have fun with my clothes onstage; it's not a concert you're seeing, it's a fashion show.
Freddie MercuryRead
A lot can be said with just a look, or the way the body moves. Each song is a different character. So each song takes on a different movement of the body. And the body has to go with the subject and the attitude that you have toward that subject.
Eartha KittRead
Photographers stop photographing a subject too soon before they have exhausted the possibilities.
Dorothea LangeRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.