29. "Out flew the web and floated wide - The mirror cracked from side to side; 'The curse is come upon me', cried...The Lady of Shalott." Who wrote these lines?
From Quiz Averse to Verse?
Answer:
Alfred Lord Tennyson
The Lady of Shalott lives alone in a tower, weaving, but she is cursed: "She knows not what the curse may be, And so she weaveth steadily, And little other care hath she..." She may not look out of her window at Camelot, but sees comings and goings outside in the reflection of her mirror. And then one day Sir Lancelot rode down to Camelot and she looked out the window at him, which brought on the curse: she left the tower, dressed in white, she lay down in a small boat after painting her name on it, and died as she floated toward Camelot. Lancelot found her and had her properly buried, though he didn't know who she was.
Englishman Lord Tennyson (1809 - 1892)also wrote "The Charge of The Light Brigade", "In Memoriam" {for his friend, Hallam, who died young)and "Idylls of The King".
The lady in the poem may represent one of the Elaines in Arthurian legend. The poem has been used in parts by many other authors, such as Agatha Christie in "The Mirror Cracked".