Written for dVerse Poetics – ‘Through the
Eyes of John Atkinson Grimshaw’. Our host,
Sanaa, asks us to write an ekphrastic poem
inspired by one of Grimshaw’s paintings.
Unfortunately, I managed to miss the
deadline for the challenge!
public domain
He took the dusk and made it gold
and poured it, heavy, thick, and old,
on water where the lilies hold
their small white fists against the cold,
and hid the road to Camelot.
One thing alone still keeps the light:
a woman in a gown of white
who drifts from evening into night,
the Lady of Shalott.
The prow stands upright, dark and tall,
a finger raised to hush it all;
the reeds lean in, no voices call,
no bell drifts down from any wall
or turret high in Camelot.
Beneath her, one vast mirror lies;
she will not give it back her eyes,
but lifts her face to open skies,
the Lady of Shalott.
And Grimshaw, with his patient brush,
has caught her in the gilded hush
before the current’s gentle push
can bring her through the reeds and rush
toward the lights of Camelot.
He cannot turn the stream away;
he only asks the dusk to stay,
and so she lingers, gold and grey,
the Lady of Shalott.
NAR©2026
This is “Lady of Shalott” Deborah Rose
Everything on the elephant trunk was created by me, unless otherwise indicate, and may not be used without permission. Thanks for your consideration. NAR©2017-present.
