The Lady of Shalott

I'm sure some of you have heard of the poem The Lady of Shalott, but for those of you who haven't, let me enlighten you :)

Here is a link to listen to the poem while watching a cute animated video made by Lisle Marsden C of E Primary School.  Enjoy!

The Lady Of Shalott - Animated

Reading of The Lady of Shalott

She left the web, she left the loom

She made three paces through the room,

She saw the water-lily bloom,

She saw the helmet and the plume,

She look'd down to Camelot.

Out flew the web and floated wide;

The mirror crack'd from side to side;

"The curse is come upon me," cried

The Lady of Shalott.

That is one of my favourite stanzas in the poem because of how intense it is, and I appreciate how great the rhyming is.

Alfred Lord Tennyson is the poet who wrote The Lady of Shalott.
(1809-1892)

  "I am half-sick of shadows," said the Lady of Shalott.

The Lady of Shalott looking at Lancelot

Famous pictures by John William Waterhouse.  This was painted in 1888. (55 years after Tennyson wrote The Lady of Shalott)

Anne (of Green Gables) quoting The Lady of Shalott as she floats dramatically down the river.

The song "If I Die Young" by The Band Perry has little hints of The Lady of Shalott in it.  I love trying to figure out what songs mean and it was super exciting when my mom pointed out a few connections she noticed between the music video and the poem.

 I think that The Band Perry is saying that life is something to celebrate and that you should be thankful for all of the time you've had.  That even though it's "a sharp knife" and it hurts that you should be happy for the time that you got to spend with that person.  Another thing I think they're saying is that you should live life to the fullest instead of just staying in the tower and looking down on other people's lives.  When the Lady of Shalott saw something that woke her up inside, (Sir Lancelot) she went for it.  Even though she died trying, she took the chance and got to be real.

It's kind of cool how when you think about it, this song is (possibly) inspired by a poem written in 1833,  almost two hundred years ago (179 years to be exact).  Now it's 2012 and the theme is still relevant today as much as it was back then.

I like how dance, poetry, art, movies, and music, can all be inspired by each other and all tie together.   John William Waterhouse (the painter) was obviously influenced by the Lady of Shalott and put his feelings about it into his paintings.

Now I hope you'll read the poem and watch the video and see if you have any new thoughts or ideas!

If I Die Young

If I Die Young Lyrics

Day 8 + 9: Taylor Swift Concert

This is how it happened;

Jenaya was over at our house and we were going to make T-shirts.  Mom said to us "These are your fan shirts"  And we were like "whaaaaaaat" and she said "You're going to the Taylor Swift concert!"   And we were like "aaaaaaaahhhhh no way!" 

So we made our t-shirts and chose the rest of our outfits.

Drove into Vancouver and stayed the night in the hotel.

And rode the sky train straight to the concert!!

And guess who we saw there?  Our homeschool teacher Amber!  

Free Cover Girl samples!

NEEDTOBREATHE  was one of her opening acts.

We got the Taylor Swift bracelets and Maddie found a cool message on the back!

The curtains had TS in the middle and 2011 in roman numerals on the sides.

It's starting!! 

She had this huge screen and there was a different scene for every song!

She changed outfits every couple of songs and had lots of really pretty fancy dresses!

We were all starstruck!

"Sparks Fly"

"Our Song"       "Mean"

"Back To December"

"Speak Now"

"Fearless"

Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning" 

"Enchanted"

"Long Live"

HERE is the link for Taylor Swift floating around in a golden balcony with glitter falling all around!  If you watch it notice at the end how she kind of waves, and pretend that was you taking a video!

HERE is the link for the overview of the concert.  Ours was not outside, and it did not rain, but it gives you the same idea!