Mermaid Dreams

The Other Maid of Astolat

2005-12-24T21:57:39Z

Edward Robert Hugh

The Other Maid of Astolat
Ty Nicole Pedroso

1 In those merry days when deeds were bold,

2 Rode: glittering, shining, gilded gold,

3 Sir Lamorak known far and wide,

4 Was born the time of ocean tide,

5 Maidens watched when by he’d ride,

6 And with the sight of him came their sighs,

7 For he would take a lovely bride,

8 Though none could catch his keen bright eye,

9 But the dame he found amongst the rye,

10 Or glimpsed at times kneeling by the riverside,

11 The other maid of Astolat.

12 Lady Clare, of Astolat; he’d pass her wall,

13 His horse a-trot,

14 and smiling ruefully,

15 Their love, he’d plot,

16 While holding aloft her sweet love knot,

17 His fellow knights, did see him then,

18 O'er from the tall lit windows of Camelot

19 “Singing clearly,

20 To his true love dearly,

21 A voice doth reach white stoned Camelot”

22 Wildly cheering, their voices raised,

23 From across the clearing

24 The sight before them most endearing,

25 The other maid of Astolat,

26 Drawing the curtain and hanging out,

27 The lacings held,

28 The singing quelled,

29 They first beheld,

30 Lady Clare, whose long dark hair,

31 Fell upon the cold stonewalls of Astolat

32 While cursed Elaine sat secluded wholly,

33 Lady Clare stood by the casement calmly,

34 Watching the happy passersby,

35 Then the shepards bell cried Tilly Tilly,

36 The wind whipped round,

37 The air made chilly,

38 And all the while she seemed a lily,

39 Soft and meek,

40 Dancing merrily in slipper clad feet,

41 Thoughts of knights,

42 Both fair and true,

43 Whispered dread could not subdue,

44 The love of she and Lamorak

Astolat is another name for Shalott, making Elaine of Astolat the cursed woman of The Lady of Shalott. I wouldn't say that this poem is finished or that I'm happy with it, but it's a start...

No Elric movies!

2005-11-07T04:35:40Z

http://www.livejournal.com/users/skjaere/429824.html

I can't believe it. I knew that they'd made no progress on the film production of Michael Moorcocks Elric books but a girl can dream can't she. Besides, I've been patiently waiting for things to get rolling with it. I'd hoped to find it on the list but alas.

Avalon, old Island Fair

2005-11-06T18:00:15Z

JW Waterhouse
October, 2005
Ty Nicole Pedroso
Avalon, Old Island Fair

Dancing wildly in the wood,
Tall and shining,
The columns stood,
Eating apples in perpetual spring,
Smiling maidens,
Of true love doth sing,

Avalon, old Island fair,
On aged Glastonbury Tor
Where Avalon, old Island fair,
Stands concealed forevermore

Ty Nicole Pedroso
The Once and Future King

Holy Avalon,
Under abbey lies,
Where great Arthur sleeps,
Sworn to never die,
The abbey bell tolls,
Leisurely, across the sky,
The brilliant sun rolls
And Britain waits on,
For its true king,
From days long gone.

The Lady of Shalott

2005-11-04T20:37:55Z

Both Tennyson and Waterhouse are such inspirations. I can only hope that one day, with years of practice, study and writing that I can even begin to compare my writings with the art that they created. As of now, it would be embarrassing for me to even claim that I am good enough to lick their boots.

Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892)

The Lady of Shalott (1832)

Part I

1 On either side the river lie
2 Long fields of barley and of rye,
3 That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
4 And thro' the field the road runs by
5 To many-tower'd Camelot;
6 The yellow-leaved waterlily
7 The green-sheathed daffodilly
8 Tremble in the water chilly
9 Round about Shalott.

10 Willows whiten, aspens shiver.
11 The sunbeam showers break and quiver
12 In the stream that runneth ever
13 By the island in the river
14 Flowing down to Camelot.
15 Four gray walls, and four gray towers
16 Overlook a space of flowers,
17 And the silent isle imbowers
18 The Lady of Shalott.

19 Underneath the bearded barley,
20 The reaper, reaping late and early,
21 Hears her ever chanting cheerly,
22 Like an angel, singing clearly,
23 O'er the stream of Camelot.
24 Piling the sheaves in furrows airy,
25 Beneath the moon, the reaper weary
26 Listening whispers, ' 'Tis the fairy,
27 Lady of Shalott.'

28 The little isle is all inrail'd
29 With a rose-fence, and overtrail'd
30 With roses: by the marge unhail'd
31 The shallop flitteth silken sail'd,
32 Skimming down to Camelot.
33 A pearl garland winds her head:
34 She leaneth on a velvet bed,
35 Full royally apparelled,
36 The Lady of Shalott.

Part II

37 No time hath she to sport and play:
38 A charmed web she weaves alway.
39 A curse is on her, if she stay
40 Her weaving, either night or day,
41 To look down to Camelot.
42 She knows not what the curse may be;
43 Therefore she weaveth steadily,
44 Therefore no other care hath she,
45 The Lady of Shalott.

46 She lives with little joy or fear.
47 Over the water, running near,
48 The sheepbell tinkles in her ear.
49 Before her hangs a mirror clear,
50 Reflecting tower'd Camelot.
51 And as the mazy web she whirls,
52 She sees the surly village churls,
53 And the red cloaks of market girls
54 Pass onward from Shalott.

55 Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
56 An abbot on an ambling pad,
57 Sometimes a curly shepherd lad,
58 Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
59 Goes by to tower'd Camelot:
60 And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
61 The knights come riding two and two:
62 She hath no loyal knight and true,
63 The Lady of Shalott.

64 But in her web she still delights
65 To weave the mirror's magic sights,
66 For often thro' the silent nights
67 A funeral, with plumes and lights
68 And music, came from Camelot:
69 Or when the moon was overhead
70 Came two young lovers lately wed;
71 `I am half sick of shadows,' said
72 The Lady of Shalott.

Part III

73 A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
74 He rode between the barley-sheaves,
75 The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
76 And flam'd upon the brazen greaves
77 Of bold Sir Lancelot.
78 A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
79 To a lady in his shield,
80 That sparkled on the yellow field,
81 Beside remote Shalott.

82 The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
83 Like to some branch of stars we see
84 Hung in the golden Galaxy.
85 The bridle bells rang merrily
86 As he rode down from Camelot:
87 And from his blazon'd baldric slung
88 A mighty silver bugle hung,
89 And as he rode his arm our rung,
90 Beside remote Shalott.

91 All in the blue unclouded weather
92 Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
93 The helmet and the helmet-feather
94 Burn'd like one burning flame together,
95 As he rode down from Camelot.
96 As often thro' the purple night,
97 Below the starry clusters bright,
98 Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
99 Moves over green Shalott.

100 His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
101 On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
102 From underneath his helmet flow'd
103 His coal-black curls as on he rode,
104 As he rode down from Camelot.
105 From the bank and from the river
106 He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
107 'Tirra lirra, tirra lirra:'
108 Sang Sir Lancelot.

109 She left the web, she left the loom
110 She made three paces thro' the room
111 She saw the water-flower bloom,
112 She saw the helmet and the plume,
113 She look'd down to Camelot.
114 Out flew the web and floated wide;
115 The mirror crack'd from side to side;
116 'The curse is come upon me,' cried
117 The Lady of Shalott.

Part IV

118 In the stormy east-wind straining,
119 The pale yellow woods were waning,
120 The broad stream in his banks complaining,
121 Heavily the low sky raining
122 Over tower'd Camelot;
123 Outside the isle a shallow boat
124 Beneath a willow lay afloat,
125 Below the carven stern she wrote,
126 The Lady of Shalott.

127 A cloudwhite crown of pearl she dight,
128 All raimented in snowy white
129 That loosely flew (her zone in sight
130 Clasp'd with one blinding diamond bright)
131 Her wide eyes fix'd on Camelot,
132 Though the squally east-wind keenly
133 Blew, with folded arms serenely
134 By the water stood the queenly
135 Lady of Shalott.

136 With a steady stony glance--
137 Like some bold seer in a trance,
138 Beholding all his own mischance,
139 Mute, with a glassy countenance--
140 She look'd down to Camelot.
141 It was the closing of the day:
142 She loos'd the chain, and down she lay;
143 The broad stream bore her far away,
144 The Lady of Shalott.

145 As when to sailors while they roam,
146 By creeks and outfalls far from home,
147 Rising and dropping with the foam,
148 From dying swans wild warblings come,
149 Blown shoreward; so to Camelot
150 Still as the boathead wound along
151 The willowy hills and fields among,
152 They heard her chanting her deathsong,
153 The Lady of Shalott.

154 A longdrawn carol, mournful, holy,
155 She chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
156 Till her eyes were darken'd wholly,
157 And her smooth face sharpen'd slowly,
158 Turn'd to tower'd Camelot:
159 For ere she reach'd upon the tide
160 The first house by the water-side,
161 Singing in her song she died,
162 The Lady of Shalott.

163 Under tower and balcony,
164 By garden wall and gallery,
165 A pale, pale corpse she floated by,
166 Deadcold, between the houses high,
167 Dead into tower'd Camelot.
168 Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
169 To the planked wharfage came:
170 Below the stern they read her name,
171 The Lady of Shalott.

172 They cross'd themselves, their stars they blest,
173 Knight, minstrel, abbot, squire, and guest.
174 There lay a parchment on her breast,
175 That puzzled more than all the rest,
176 The wellfed wits at Camelot.
177 'The web was woven curiously,
178 The charm is broken utterly,
179 Draw near and fear not,--this is I,
180 The Lady of Shalott.'
Notes

1] First published in Poems, 1833, but much altered in 1842, as a comparison of the two versions given will show. This poem is Tennyson's earliest published use of the Arthurian theory and legend. In 1859 his "Lancelot and Elaine" retells the story. The name Shalott is the Astolat of the old romances. Tennyson is said to have got the name he uses in this poem from an Italian tale, La Donna di Scalotta, in which Camelot is located near the sea, contrary to the Celtic tradition. (The following notes refer to the 1842 version.)

5] Camelot: the capital of Arthur's kingdom. Caxton puts it in Wales.

56] pad: an easy-paced horse.

69-72] Tennyson noted later: "The new-born love for something, for someone in the wide world from which she has been so long secluded, takes her out of the region of shadows into that of realities" (Memoir, I, 116-17).

84] Galaxy: the Milky Way.

107] Tirra lirra: Shakespeare speaks of "The lark that tirra-lirra chants" (Winter's Tale, IV, ii, 9). Here it indicates Lancelot's light-heartedness.

Part I

1 On either side the river lie
2 Long fields of barley and of rye,
3 That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
4 And thro' the field the road runs by
5 To many-tower'd Camelot;
6 And up and down the people go,
7 Gazing where the lilies blow
8 Round an island there below,
9 The island of Shalott.

10 Willows whiten, aspens quiver,
11 Little breezes dusk and shiver
12 Thro' the wave that runs for ever
13 By the island in the river
14 Flowing down to Camelot.
15 Four gray walls, and four gray towers,
16 Overlook a space of flowers,
17 And the silent isle imbowers
18 The Lady of Shalott.

19 By the margin, willow veil'd,
20 Slide the heavy barges trail'd
21 By slow horses; and unhail'd
22 The shallop flitteth silken-sail'd
23 Skimming down to Camelot:
24 But who hath seen her wave her hand?
25 Or at the casement seen her stand?
26 Or is she known in all the land,
27 The Lady of Shalott?

28 Only reapers, reaping early
29 In among the bearded barley,
30 Hear a song that echoes cheerly
31 From the river winding clearly,
32 Down to tower'd Camelot:
33 And by the moon the reaper weary,
34 Piling sheaves in uplands airy,
35 Listening, whispers " 'Tis the fairy
36 Lady of Shalott."

Part II

37 There she weaves by night and day
38 A magic web with colours gay.
39 She has heard a whisper say,
40 A curse is on her if she stay
41 To look down to Camelot.
42 She knows not what the curse may be,
43 And so she weaveth steadily,
44 And little other care hath she,
45 The Lady of Shalott.

46 And moving thro' a mirror clear
47 That hangs before her all the year,
48 Shadows of the world appear.
49 There she sees the highway near
50 Winding down to Camelot:
51 There the river eddy whirls,
52 And there the surly village-churls,
53 And the red cloaks of market girls,
54 Pass onward from Shalott.

55 Sometimes a troop of damsels glad,
56 An abbot on an ambling pad,
57 Sometimes a curly shepherd-lad,
58 Or long-hair'd page in crimson clad,
59 Goes by to tower'd Camelot;
60 And sometimes thro' the mirror blue
61 The knights come riding two and two:
62 She hath no loyal knight and true,
63 The Lady of Shalott.

64 But in her web she still delights
65 To weave the mirror's magic sights,
66 For often thro' the silent nights
67 A funeral, with plumes and lights
68 And music, went to Camelot:
69 Or when the moon was overhead,
70 Came two young lovers lately wed:
71 "I am half sick of shadows," said
72 The Lady of Shalott.

Part III

73 A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
74 He rode between the barley-sheaves,
75 The sun came dazzling thro' the leaves,
76 And flamed upon the brazen greaves
77 Of bold Sir Lancelot.
78 A red-cross knight for ever kneel'd
79 To a lady in his shield,
80 That sparkled on the yellow field,
81 Beside remote Shalott.

82 The gemmy bridle glitter'd free,
83 Like to some branch of stars we see
84 Hung in the golden Galaxy.
85 The bridle bells rang merrily
86 As he rode down to Camelot:
87 And from his blazon'd baldric slung
88 A mighty silver bugle hung,
89 And as he rode his armour rung,
90 Beside remote Shalott.

91 All in the blue unclouded weather
92 Thick-jewell'd shone the saddle-leather,
93 The helmet and the helmet-feather
94 Burn'd like one burning flame together,
95 As he rode down to Camelot.
96 As often thro' the purple night,
97 Below the starry clusters bright,
98 Some bearded meteor, trailing light,
99 Moves over still Shalott.

100 His broad clear brow in sunlight glow'd;
101 On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
102 From underneath his helmet flow'd
103 His coal-black curls as on he rode,
104 As he rode down to Camelot.
105 From the bank and from the river
106 He flash'd into the crystal mirror,
107 "Tirra lirra," by the river
108 Sang Sir Lancelot.

109 She left the web, she left the loom,
110 She made three paces thro' the room,
111 She saw the water-lily bloom,
112 She saw the helmet and the plume,
113 She look'd down to Camelot.
114 Out flew the web and floated wide;
115 The mirror crack'd from side to side;
116 "The curse is come upon me," cried
117 The Lady of Shalott.

Part IV

118 In the stormy east-wind straining,
119 The pale yellow woods were waning,
120 The broad stream in his banks complaining,
121 Heavily the low sky raining
122 Over tower'd Camelot;
123 Down she came and found a boat
124 Beneath a willow left afloat,
125 And round about the prow she wrote
126 The Lady of Shalott.

127 And down the river's dim expanse
128 Like some bold seër in a trance,
129 Seeing all his own mischance--
130 With a glassy countenance
131 Did she look to Camelot.
132 And at the closing of the day
133 She loosed the chain, and down she lay;
134 The broad stream bore her far away,
135 The Lady of Shalott.

136 Lying, robed in snowy white
137 That loosely flew to left and right--
138 The leaves upon her falling light--
139 Thro' the noises of the night
140 She floated down to Camelot:
141 And as the boat-head wound along
142 The willowy hills and fields among,
143 They heard her singing her last song,
144 The Lady of Shalott.

145 Heard a carol, mournful, holy,
146 Chanted loudly, chanted lowly,
147 Till her blood was frozen slowly,
148 And her eyes were darken'd wholly,
149 Turn'd to tower'd Camelot.
150 For ere she reach'd upon the tide
151 The first house by the water-side,
152 Singing in her song she died,
153 The Lady of Shalott.

154 Under tower and balcony,
155 By garden-wall and gallery,
156 A gleaming shape she floated by,
157 Dead-pale between the houses high,
158 Silent into Camelot.
159 Out upon the wharfs they came,
160 Knight and burgher, lord and dame,
161 And round the prow they read her name,
162 The Lady of Shalott.

163 Who is this? and what is here?
164 And in the lighted palace near
165 Died the sound of royal cheer;
166 And they cross'd themselves for fear,
167 All the knights at Camelot:
168 But Lancelot mused a little space;
169 He said, "She has a lovely face;
170 God in his mercy lend her grace,
171 The Lady of Shalott."
Notes

1] First published in Poems, 1833, but much altered in 1842, as a comparison of the two versions given will show. This poem is Tennyson's earliest published use of the Arthurian theory and legend. In 1859 his "Lancelot and Elaine" retells the story. The name Shalott is the Astolat of the old romances. Tennyson is said to have got the name he uses in this poem from an Italian tale, La Donna di Scalotta, in which Camelot is located near the sea, contrary to the Celtic tradition. (The following notes refer to the 1842 version.)

5] Camelot: the capital of Arthur's kingdom. Caxton puts it in Wales.

56] pad: an easy-paced horse.

69-72] Tennyson noted later: "The new-born love for something, for someone in the wide world from which she has been so long secluded, takes her out of the region of shadows into that of realities" (Memoir, I, 116-17).

84] Galaxy: the Milky Way.

107] Tirra lirra: Shakespeare speaks of "The lark that tirra-lirra chants" (Winter's Tale, IV, ii, 9). Here it indicates Lancelot's light-heartedness.

On the Sleepy Isle of Avalon

2005-10-30T00:19:33Z

July 23, 2004 & Feb 14, 2005
Changes made on July 22, 2005
Ty Nicole Pedroso
On the Sleepy Isle of Avalon

1 Before the cave mouth,

2 In the dead of night,

3 On the snow covered earth,

4 Amongst flowers encased in twilight

5 In the icy silver streams,

6 Silhouetted against an array of moonbeams.

7 The pale pink mouth sang,

8 Emitting a sound like fallen rain,

9 Her long limbs glowed white,

10 A picture of doves transformed in flight,

11 It was on Avalon she roamed,

12 Riding like a swan,

13 on the misty ocean foam,

14 Starlight entwined in her Dark hair

15 Her gilded girdle woven with supernatural care,

16 by the ladies of the maiden fair,

17 On the sleepy isle of Avalon

18 The true brave knights from far and wide,

19 they came upon the ocean tide,

20 To look upon and make a bride,

21 The divine maiden on the sleepy isle of Avalon.

22 She smiled upon them,

23 Her head she bowed,

24 To the death, rose her solemn vow

25 Would the man, with most renown,

26 Hold her heart and gilded crown.

27 To arms! To arms!

28 Their shouts they came,

29 They battled for their loving dame

30 And one by one these men were claimed,

31 By the Gods they said should reign,

32 Until all but one stood tall,

33 Wounded but unwilling to fall,

34 His eyes were bright,

35 His hair was long,

36 He danced and swayed to her soft song

37 She laughed and smiled

38 A secret smile,

39 Then reached tenderly to his brow,

40 For in her hands she held a crown,

41 Made for the princes of Avalon

42 The crown was made of silver and gold,

43 Forever new but remaining old,

44 It held within it a radiant light,

45 Was forged using a holy might,

46 It healed his wounds,

47 It made him strong,

48 It held within him his maidens song,

49 The crown made on the sleepy isle of Avalon

50 The Knight and Lady,

51 Were King and Queen,

52 Dancing by the oceans sheen,

53 They laughed and sang,

54 Their voices rang,

55 Heard near and far,

56 They reached the stars

57 On the Sleepy Isle Of Avalon

Avalon: The sacred Isle in Arthurian Legend where it is said that King Arthur’s body is buried only to awaken and rule his kingdom again in a time of great need. The Lady of the Lake is sometimes said to rule it with magic.