Narrate these linesOnly reapers, reaping early In among the bearded barley, Hear a song that echoes cheerly From the river winding clearly,...

One way to interpret poetry is to make sure you first
understand all the vocabulary. Poems written almost 200 years ago are bound to include
words we computer geeks with our techno-gadgets may not know. Lord Tennyson would have
no idea what an MP3 file is.

Reaping means to gather or
cut, like a crop. It also reminds me of the Grim Reaper so there could be some
foreshadowing happening.

Barley is a grain. Bearded barley
means it's ripe for picking. The phrase also shows deft use of alliteration and
personification.

Sheaves are bundles of barley that reapers
have gathered.

Tennyson uses an allusion to Camelot of the
early Middle Ages. King Arthur and his knights of the round table were known as
invincible warriors. Legend has it they were pretty hot
guys.

Here's a contemporary
translation:

Only the reapers (workers) picking fat barley
in the early morning

Hear a song that drifts down the river
toward towering Camelot.

After a long day of work, the
reaper piles the bundled grain on higher ground away from the
fields,

And listens for the song and declares it belongs to
the "fairly Lady of Shalott."

The passage adds mystery and
mysticism to this woman. Does she exist? Doesn't she? Only a song suggests she
exists.