John Keats-La Belle Dame
La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true’.
She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Beautiful, every time one reads it! Thanks for bringing it again across.
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I agree. One of the great poems.
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I love John Keats x
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Me too. A legend.
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Oh I love this! Yes, a timeless beauty.
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I agree. A classic poem.
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A beautiful old classic. Thank you.
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I agree. These words need to be read.
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This is possible one of the poems that can bring tears to my eyes. I love John Keats and the moment I read ‘La Belle Dame sans Mercy’, I was overjoyed! There is nothing more satisfying than reading classics 🙂 Thank you for this 🙂
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I agree. Our responsibility. To show new world the ancient writers.
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Romantics were a class apart! Cheers!
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I agree.
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dreams turns into nightmare
who will now dare
to love the mainden fair
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One of the great poems. Another writer took me to his words. Us new writers cannot allow the ancient Poets to be forgotten. Poets like Donne and Keats must not be forgotten.
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No.they live forever in our heart and we pass it to next generation
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