Lady Of Shalott

551 Words3 Pages
Have you ever wondered about how the structure of a story, poem, or play could effect the overall outcome of the reading experience. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, one of the most famous writers in history, wrote a very famous poem called Lady of Shalott. Tennyson uses a unique structure throughout the poem to portray a somewhat depressing story that includes isolation and four different parts. Tennyson's structure helps the reader understand the unique, unhappy story of the Lady of Shalott. He uses nine line stanzas with a rhyme scheme of A,A,A,A,B,C,C,C,B. "There she weaves by night and day / a magic web with colors 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" (Tennyson, Lines 37-45, Page, 965) The nine lines per stanza gives repetition of the rhythm and the unique and appropriate rhyme scheme. The overall impact that this form of structure Tennyson decided to use in this poem relates to the tone of a depressing piece and the reader can tell, just by the rhythm in which it is read.…show more content…
"The Lady of Shalott" is repeated at the end of almost every single stanza throughout the entire poem. This is significant because the spotlight is on the one person, and how she has been alone her whole life. ""Willows whiten, aspens quiver / little breezes dusk and shiver / through the wave that runs forever / 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." (Tennyson, Lines 10-19, Page 963) This proves the repetition at the end of each stanza shows a powerful theme of isolation and loneliness directed from the Lady of
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