The final building in Spain I’ll write about this month is the stunning Alcazar in Segovia. Rather than telling you the history of this astounding castle or trying to describe it in my own words, I’ll say that it reminded me throughout of the poem The Lady of Shalott. Between our photos and Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s words, I’ll let you form your own impressions.
Four gray walls and four gray towers,
Overlook a space of flowers,
And the silent isle imbowers
The Lady of Shalott.
There she weaves by night and day
A magic web with colours gay.
She has heard a whisper say,
A curse is on her if she stay
To look down to Camelot.
And moving thro’ a mirror clear
That hangs before her all the year,
Shadows of the world appear.
There she sees the highway near
Winding down to Camelot.
And sometimes thro’ the mirror blue
The knights come riding two and two:
She hath no loyal Knight and true,
The Lady of Shalott.
A bow-shot from her bower-eaves,
He rode between the barley-sheaves,
The sun came dazzling thro’ the leaves,
And flamed upon the brazen greaves
Of bold Sir Lancelot.
She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces thro’ 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
Excerpts from The Lady of Shalott, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Wow what an amazing building!
Stunning – why is everything so gorgeous!
Stunning architecture! And those windows. It's all breathtaking.
Beth, The Lady of Shalott is one of my favourite poems. You're right, this castle really suits it quite well.
Oh, thank you for the poem! And I've actually been here, so it was very special to see the photos 🙂
Lovely photos, and I love that poem, too!
wow amazing I always get new travel ideas from you love it
Wonderful. You are so creative and truly gifted with words, even when you borrow them from someone. 🙂
VERY cool; love those photos/castle, and the poem of course is super!
What a lovely poem, I can almost imagine those people walking around the castle right now!
This is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful!
Love the stunning photos and the excerpt. Thanks for sharing!
Wow, these are absolutely AMAZING. That's it: I have got to get myself to Spain!
Wonderful poem and spectacular castle. It must have been quite the site to see:)
Beautiful. I love the hedge (or at least I think it's a hedge) in the 4th photo.
The castle looks stunning!
Thanks, Beth, for sharing those photos.
I love the hedges in the garden! Is it a maze?
Both poem and building are beautiful! Such a haunting poem. The building transports me to another time. I love reading these posts. 😀
Every time I check in on your blog, I start to salivate (literally!) for all those wonderful goodies and (figuratively) for some exotic travel. Really, your photos and writing are that wonderful.
Such breathtaking scenery and architecture. I never realised just how beautiful the buildings in Spain are, glad you shared these posts with us Beth. I know this is going to sound so silly, but when I was young and heard/ read about the Lady of Shalott, I couldn't figure out what the poem had to do with onions!
Beth,
Thanks for stopping by my blog. this is my first time here. Such gorgeous pictures, and a lovely post.
Thanks to all of you for your lovely comments. Shaz, I had to double-check my spelling to make sure I wasn't writing about onions too!
What a gorgeous post, Beth. Feel like I've been transported in time. What an incredible castle. Will need to look this one up and get to Spain!
Wow, that is amazing! That stained glass is stunning. 😀