What is the meaning of these lines from "The Lady of Shalott"?
These lines are full of visual and aural imagery. One imagines the glittering jewels in the horse's bridle and the sound the bridle bells make in the silent forest. The comparison to the "Golden Galaxy" reminds the reader that the Lady of Shalott is hidden away and remote, far from consideration and awareness of the wide world at large, and unable to go outside to look at the night sky as most people can.
This is also a very important line because it describes the spectacle of Lancelot's horse, and the distraction it represents for the Lady of Shalott. Because she notices his beauty, and the beauty of the horse, bedecked in jewels and bells, she is cursed. She sees the appeal of the outside world, and is entranced by the possibility of love, and is destroyed by it. This is a powerful commentary on the power and tragedy of romantic love, which explains why the poem's popularity has endured.
What is the meaning of these lines from "The Lady of Shalott"?
And moving thro' 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:
There the river eddy whirls,
And there the surly village-churls,
And the red cloaks of market girls,
Pass onward from Shalott.
These lines you have quoted come from the second stanza of the second section of this excellent poem. Their value lies in the way that they stress the importance of the mirror in the life of the Lady of Shalott, and show how the Lady of Shalott was able to view the real world from her imbowered isle, even though the curse prevents her from looking out of the window herself. The mirror then mediates reality for her, so that she can see the world in "shadows," as these lines indicate. The importance of the mirror is indicated in the way that it "hangs before her all the year" and in the fact that the Lady of Shalott uses the mirror to view the outside world which she then records in her weaving.
These lines above all present a key theme of this poem, which is the way in which the Lady of Shalott is isolated from real life, and just a spectator. She is left to record the "shadows" that she sees in her weaving, which introduces the key conflict of art vs. life and reality, and the limitations of art in trying to record or represent real life in all of its vibrancy. In the end, the beauty, colour and energy of real life in the form of Sir Lancelot cannot be expressed fully through the mediation of the river, which leads the Lady of Shalott to desire life rather than its pale imitation.
Get Ahead with eNotes
Start your 48-hour free trial to access everything you need to rise to the top of the class. Enjoy expert answers and study guides ad-free and take your learning to the next level.
Already a member? Log in here.