13 Responses to “Lilly mirror”

1. 

   Preme
   

   August 16th, 2010 at 5:49 pm

   you cna remove the whole fourth fifth and sixth stanza and make the one stanza that should do it the poem still reads well and makes its point without them

2. 

   matt_r_baker
   

   September 8th, 2010 at 11:10 pm

   Well I think it means the newspapers that she is looking into

3. 

   Lola S
   

   September 13th, 2010 at 6:08 pm

   The imagery is profoundly sexual. The lady looks at the world through a mirror, which is the symbol of virginity. For poets and mythopoeists alike, the shattering of a mirror is the loss of viginity (hymen breaking), and this is what will happen to the Lady if she looks directly at the world (specifically Launcelot). As soon as she does so, "the mirror crack'd from side to side" — in poetic terms, she has succumbed to a sexual relationship with him, and must bear the consequences.

   There is even more subtle imagery in this poem, not normally visible to most (especially those writing essays for English classes). Look at these lines, ostensibly describing Sir Launcelot:

   "He rode between the barley-sheaves,
   The sun came dazzling through the leaves,
   And flamed upon the brazen greaves
   Of bold Sir Lancelot.
   A red-cross knight for ever kneeled
   To a lady in his shield,
   That sparkled on the yellow field,
   Beside remote Shalott."

   This is not the shield device of Launcelot! The shield device of Launcelot is a set of black and silver chevrons. Tennyson was steeped in Arthurian lore and imagery, and knew this (he also wrote The Idylls of the King). The symbol of a knight clothed in a tunic bearing a red cross on it, kneeling before a lady (the Virgin Mary), is the device of King Arthur, not Sir Launcelot. The hidden reference is to Tennyson's dearest friend, Arthur Henry Hallam, who died whilst a student at university, and whose death resulted in the greatest series of elegiac poems ever written, Tennyson's "In Memoriam".

   A very strange poem, with more layers to it than are commonly supposed.

4. 

   Ashley
   

   September 20th, 2010 at 1:43 am

   I've always noticed that Harry Potter has blue eyes!! I hate that, and in the first movie, where it shows Lily in the mirror of Erised, HER EYES ARE GREEN, but Harry's are brown. Lovely.

5. 

   healthwise357
   

   October 8th, 2010 at 6:57 am

   1 – Listen to Loreena McKennitt sing this, it's on YouTube. Close your eyes. The images that come to mind when she sings will clue you in on where the imagery is in the poem.
   2 – Use Wikipedia, look up similie and metaphor. They aren't that hard to find but you need to understand what they are. Just having someone circle them for you on your homework isn't going to help you. You'll just become dependent on other people to fill your mind with thoughts.
   3 – Google "king arthur" and read about the legend and myth, to better understand the motivations behind the Lady of Shalott. That will help you understand how the character and narrator are personified in the poem. Good luck. I know Yahoo Answers can be helpful for homework, and you'll get a mix of people spoon feeding you answers, and people calling you names. So I'm trying to show you how to fish vs. giving you a fish. That's a metaphor

6. 

   Preme
   

   October 12th, 2010 at 1:12 pm

   you cna remove the whole fourth fifth and sixth stanza and make the one stanza that should do it the poem still reads well and makes its point without them

7. 

   Jeff H
   

   October 17th, 2010 at 2:56 am

   you can always search this on the web. just use the appropriate keywords or key phrases about this poem you have here so that you will get what exactly that is you are looking for.

8. 

   Ashley
   

   October 20th, 2010 at 9:41 pm

   I've always noticed that Harry Potter has blue eyes!! I hate that, and in the first movie, where it shows Lily in the mirror of Erised, HER EYES ARE GREEN, but Harry's are brown. Lovely.

9. 

   healthwise357
   

   October 25th, 2010 at 7:57 am

   1 – Listen to Loreena McKennitt sing this, it's on YouTube. Close your eyes. The images that come to mind when she sings will clue you in on where the imagery is in the poem.
   2 – Use Wikipedia, look up similie and metaphor. They aren't that hard to find but you need to understand what they are. Just having someone circle them for you on your homework isn't going to help you. You'll just become dependent on other people to fill your mind with thoughts.
   3 – Google "king arthur" and read about the legend and myth, to better understand the motivations behind the Lady of Shalott. That will help you understand how the character and narrator are personified in the poem. Good luck. I know Yahoo Answers can be helpful for homework, and you'll get a mix of people spoon feeding you answers, and people calling you names. So I'm trying to show you how to fish vs. giving you a fish. That's a metaphor

10. 

    Ashley
    

    October 25th, 2010 at 3:40 pm

    I've always noticed that Harry Potter has blue eyes!! I hate that, and in the first movie, where it shows Lily in the mirror of Erised, HER EYES ARE GREEN, but Harry's are brown. Lovely.

11. 

    Ashley
    

    October 27th, 2010 at 1:59 am

    I've always noticed that Harry Potter has blue eyes!! I hate that, and in the first movie, where it shows Lily in the mirror of Erised, HER EYES ARE GREEN, but Harry's are brown. Lovely.

12. 

    Ashley
    

    November 11th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    I've always noticed that Harry Potter has blue eyes!! I hate that, and in the first movie, where it shows Lily in the mirror of Erised, HER EYES ARE GREEN, but Harry's are brown. Lovely.

13. 

    firebelle_uk
    

    October 29th, 2011 at 1:42 pm

    ya i like it
    we have to write an essay on it though…
    on the theme "inequality"
    and how she was locked up and didn't have any control of her
    life… etc.
    if u can help me, please do.
    =]