"The Lady of Shalott tells the story of a woman who lives in a tower in Shalott, which is an island on a river that runs, along with the road beside it, to Camelot, the setting of the legends about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. Every day, the woman weaves a tapestry picture of the landscape that is visible from her window, including Camelot. There is, however, a curse on her; the woman does not know the cause of the curse, but she knows that she cannot look directly out of the window, so she views the subjects of her artwork through a mirror that is beside her. The woman is happy to weave, but is tired of looking at life only as a reflection. One day, Sir Lancelot rides by, looking bold and handsome in his shining armor, and singing. The woman goes to the window to look directly out of it, and the moment she does, she knows that the curse is upon her. So she leaves the tower, finds a boat at the side of the river, writes 'The Lady of Shalott' on the side of the boat, and floats off down the river toward Camelot. As she drifts along, singing and observing all of the sights that were forbidden to her before, she dies. The boat floats past Camelot, and all of the knights make the sign of the cross upon seeing a corpse go by, but Lancelot, seeing her for the first time, notes, 'She has a lovely face.'"

FOUND! Hot diggity dawg, who'da thunk I'd find it so soon!

"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.
She knows not what the curse may be,
And so she weaveth steadily,
And little other care hath she,
The Lady of Shalott."

After weaving through absolute CRAP online (key words are crap, btw - no, I don't want to make a Love Sweater!), I have found my painting - my heart sank and there is absolutely no mistaking it. Seeing it reminded me of brushing my hair before school everyday, since it was right next to the wall mirror. Our print was massive, I have NO idea why we had it in our home, and I don't know why the memory of it crawled into my head yesterday. Either way, I've found it, and it's absolutely beautiful. Looking at the finer detail of this painting, it dawned on me that my family may have actually had decent taste in art. What the hell?

"She left the web, she left the loom,
She made three paces through 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."

Thanks to everyone who had a go, sorry I was so vague. The thread around her had nothing to do with the curse, she was just really messy. What an idiot.

The poem 'The Lady of Shalott' was first written by Lord Alfred Tennyson in 1832. A favourite muse for the Pre-Raphaelite Victorian artists, this is the one we had at home. By William Holman Hunt, c.1886-1905.

I'm going to marry this painting and make it pancakes every morning. Breathtaking.