"Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?"
(From Keats' Ode to a Nightingale) John William Waterhouse drew upon various sources as inspirations for his paintings, numbered among which were poems by British poets of the early-mid 19th century. Whilst some poems are obvious sources (e.g. The Lady of Shalott, La Belle Dame Sans Merci and Lamia), other poems listed below may not be the direct influence (e.g. Ode to the West Wind and The Question). Other literary sources include works by Shakespeare, Chaucer, Boccaccio, the early Grecian poets, and Malory's Morte d'Arthur.
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Alfred Lord Tennyson: 'The Lady of Shalott' |
On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
The island of Shalott. |
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Alfred Lord Tennyson: 'The Mermaid' |
Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne? |
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Alfred Lord Tennyson: 'The Merman' |
Who would be
A merman bold,
Sitting alone
Singing alone
Under the sea,
With a crown of gold,
On a throne? |
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John Keats: 'Isabella, or the Pot of Basil' |
Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel!
Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love's eye!
They could not in the self-same mansion dwell
Without some stir of heart, some malady;
They could not sit at meals but feel how well
It soothed each to be the other by;
They could not, sure, beneath the same roof sleep
But to each other dream, and nightly weep. |
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John Keats: 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' |
 Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, Alone and palely loitering; |
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