In the early-19th century, English poet Alfred Tennyson wrote one of his best-known works, “The Lady of Shalott.” Inspired by the 13th-century Italian novellina “Donna di Scalotta,” the poem draws from Arthurian subject matter to tell the tragic story of Elaine of Astolat, a young noblewoman stranded in a tower up the river from the city of Camelot.
The poem was a very popular subject for Victorian Britain because of its theme of tragic love. Forbidden to leave the tower, the lady is only allowed to see the outside world through a mirror or else suffer an unnamed curse.
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….