One of a collection of fine art paintings beautifully depicted in Cross Stitch from the Cross Stitch Collectibles Collection. One of a collection of pieces adapted from the work of Waterhouse, now housed at the Tate Gallery in London.

The kit is a counted cross stitch design.

14 count: 26.5" x 35.75"

18 count: 27.75” x 20.5”

Click here to see a list of threads you will need for this chart.

You can also purchase this design as a counted cross stitch kit on 14ct or 18ct fabric with all the threads you need so that you can begin stitching when you receive your chart.

The poem (of which Tennyson wrote two versions: one in 1833, of twenty verses, the other in 1842 of nineteen verses) is commonly believed to have been loosely based upon a story from Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur concerning Elaine of Astolat, a maiden who falls in love with Lancelot, but dies of grief when he cannot return her love. However, Tennyson himself said that the poem was based on a thirteenth-century Italian novelette entitled Donna di Scalotta, which focuses on the lady's death and her reception at Camelot rather than her isolation in the tower and her decision to participate in the living world, two subjects not mentioned in "Donna di Scalotta" [1].

The Lady of Tennyson's poem lives in a tower on the island of Shalott, in a river near Camelot. She is under a curse: if she looks directly at Camelot, some unknown doom will befall her. Thus she watches the world through a mirror, and weaves what she sees in a magic web. The shadowy glimpses of life beyond the tower tempt her to look, although she knows that to do so will bring the curse to its unknown end. One day, however, seeing Lancelot in her mirror, she realises more than ever how sick she is of her life, of seeing the world only through shadows and reflections.

On burnish'd hooves his war-horse trode;
From underneath his helmet flow'd
His coal-black curls as on he rode,
As he rode down to Camelot.
From the bank and from the river
He flashed into the crystal mirror,
"Tirra lirra," by the river
Sang Sir Lancelot.

She finally succumbs to temptation and looks directly out when Sir Lancelot rides past the tower singing, and as she looks towards 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.

She leaves her tower, finds a boat upon which she writes her name, and floats down the river to Camelot, chanting a mournful song, dying as she sings. She arrives frozen to death, and among the knights and ladies who see her is Lancelot:

"Who is this? And what is here?"
And in the lighted palace near
Died the sound of royal cheer;
And they crossed themselves for fear,
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, "She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott."