Revision: ‘La Belle Dame’ and ‘Non Sum Qualis’

Keats wrote in a letter to his brother “A man in love cuts the sorriest figure in the world”. He found his pathetic visage “irresistible” – appears to be inspired by idea of infatuation and the tormented, obsessive element of being in love. Does he enjoy or resent it? La Belle Dame Tone- tragic love/destructive power of love, although initially idyllic Form- Traditional ballad told through direct speech/anonymity of characters/written in quatrains/plain, everyday language/ABCB rhyme scheme; set in Medieval times – courtly love is parodied and revealed to be ultimately disappointing; Romantic poem (symbolic use of seasons/nature/flowers; obsession with abstract qualities of beauty and love). Written in 1819 when Keats’s relationship with Fanny Brawne was blossoming. Macro structure- Iambic tetrameter-1st 3 lines of quatrain/main thrust of story; final shorter line 4-5 syllables creates tone of melancholic reflection. First 3 quatrains- poetic voice addresses the knight questioning what ails him; tonal shift from stanza 4 as the knight recounts his story of tragic love: initially idyllic/obsessive. Poem becomes progressively stranger/more influenced by the supernatural, suggesting knight’s state of mind. Cyclical overall structure – last stanza is 1st stanza repeated, emphasising the knight’s fate and how he is stagnating in his grief. Micro structure- Repetition/polyptoton in S9&10 – “dream” (is he too emphatic that it’s a “dream”? Why?) and “pale” (alluding to other suitors she has bewitched and destroyed). Alliteration L40 – harsh sounding – their desperate warning to the knight. Imagery- pathetic fallacy created through references to seasons – Autumn/Winter in S1&2, death and stagnation, wasting effect of sexual love? Allusions to Spring/Summer in S5 – height of obsession/romance. Floral imagery suggesting passion/sexual love/flourishing romance – S5 ‘garland’ and ‘bracelets’ (of flowers), ‘fragrant zone’ – he adorns her with flowers as a sign of his love/worship/idolisation; S3 the initial speaker uses floral imagery to express the knight’s lovesick, withering appearance. Morbid imagery in S11 ‘starved lips’, ‘horrid warning gaped wide’ – deathlike suggesting wasting effect of sexual love/obsession; adjective ‘starved’ could imply starved of life/nourishment or affection – after effects of affair following rejection? Warning about obsessive love/infatuation? Language- Fairy-tale imagery/references – ‘elfin grot’, ‘faery’s child’, ‘faery’s song’, ‘language strange’, references to ‘dreaming’ - surreal quality to poem. Sexual connotations L20 – desire? Consummation of their love? Sound- . Onomatopoeic liquid sounds having soothing, soporific effect in S9.

Non Sum Qualis Tone- obsession with lost love; tension between hedonism (pursuit of pleasure) and conscience/ deviance and devotion. Form- Lyric poem: sestets, use of refrain, regularity of form, only four stanzas which intensifies impact – sense of claustrophobia. Poem’s content reflect the Decadent movement of the 1890s – tendency toward sexual promiscuity and excess. Macro structure- Alexandrines (12 syllable line in iambic hexameter), creating sense of drama and gravitas and elongating the lines for lingering effect. Micro structure- ‘passion’ and ‘fashion’ rhyme ends L4 and 6 in each stanza, emphasising both his obsession and insistence of his attempted faithfulness. Refrain of these lines ‘But I was desolate and sick of an old passion’ (L4 of each stanza) and ‘I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! In my fashion’ (L6 of each stanza) proclaiming/alluding to both his intention to be faithful but his inability to do so in his life of excess. Shift in final stanza L22 from past to present tense in refrain reflects how he continues to yearn his lost love. Imagery- Pathetic fallacy: ‘dawn was grey’ (L11) reflecting disappointment and disillusionment following night of passion with another lover. Imagery of lust and desire: ‘bought red mouth’ L9 (‘bought’ suggesting prostitution) and ‘lips of my desire’ L23 – is he connecting Cynara to his ‘bought’ love through these references? Language- archaic diction ‘betwixt’, ‘yesternight’ – gravitas, drama, commands attention. Exclamation in refrain, followed by anticlimactic admission of final 3 words ‘in my fashion’. Adverb ‘surely’ L9 reflects how his attempt to convince himself – unsuccessful? Alliteration L14 ‘roses, roses riotously’ repetition and careless verb ‘flung’ suggest decadence and excess in his attempt to and alliteration of L15 ‘lost lilies’ – creating softer, more sombre tone remembering lost love. Comparative adjectives ‘madder’ and ‘stronger’ (L19) suggest his desperation and desire to reach a drugged oblivion to escape his obsession. Sound- . Regular rhyme ABACBC – reflecting how he is relentlessly haunted by his lost love.

Engaging with the debate (AO1/5) La Belle Dame What evidence can you find for/against: Keats presents the destructive power of love Keats portrays only infatuation Keats suggests that love is only about the pursuit of beauty Non Sum Qualis Dowson’s speaker demonstrates an admirable commitment to love Dowson presents us with a portrait of selfish and hedonistic love