Tennyson 'Lady of Shalott'?

Question

What does 'tirra lirra' in the 'Lady of Shalott' by Tennyson mean?

The poem is here

http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/tennyson/los1.html

Thanks

Nihat

Answer 1

It actually tells  you in the article you linked to what it is about:

107. "'Tirra lira, tirra lira,' 1832. From Winter's Tale IV iii 9. Turner (p. 61) notes that T. 'faintly underlined the Damsel's sexual frustration by making Lancelot, at her first sight of him, sing 'Tirra lira, tirra lirra,' taken from a song in The Winter's Tale where Autolycus thinks of 'tumbling in the hay' with his'"aunts' (whores)."

Answer 2

I love that poem so much.

I've never thought it meant anything much - just a random song sung by Lancelot - a literate way of singing "la la la".