I've been reading Alfred, Lord Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott" with my fourth graders, one part per week. This week, we read Part 3 - the cliffhanger! (They all wanted to know if there was a part 4 - success!) I told them they had to wait until next week.
My students don't have exposure to rich text, so to help them understand the poem, I show them pictures and define certain words.
Here is Part I with images and definitions...
Part I
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
 |
| barley |
 |
| rye |
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
wold: a piece of uncultivated land, an area of hilly land in the country
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
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| Camelot |
The yellow-leaved waterlily
 |
| painting of waterlilies by Monet |
The green-sheathed daffodilly
 |
| daffodil |
Tremble in the water chilly
Round about Shalott.
Willows whiten, aspens shiver.
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| aspens |
 |
| willow tree |
The sunbeam showers break and quiver
In the stream that runneth ever
By the island in the river
Flowing down to Camelot.
Four gray walls, and four gray towers
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
imbowers: surrounds or shelters
The Lady of Shalott.
 |
| painting by Waterhouse (1888) |
Underneath the bearded barley,
The reaper, reaping late and early,
 |
| hand-reaping |
Hears her ever chanting cheerly,
Like an angel, singing clearly,
O'er the stream of Camelot.
Piling the sheaves in furrows airy,
sheaves: bundles of grain stalks tied together
Beneath the moon, the reaper weary
Listening whispers, ' 'Tis the fairy,
Lady of Shalott.'
The little isle is all inrail'd
With a rose-fence, and overtrail'd
With roses: by the marge unhail'd
marge: margin or edge
The shallop flitteth silken sail'd,
shallop: a small open boat
flitteth: moves quickly
silken sail'd: with silk sails
Skimming down to Camelot.
A pearl garland winds her head:
She leaneth on a velvet bed,
Full royally apparelled,
The Lady of Shalott.
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