Painting By Frank Dicksee

La Belle Dame sans Merci Written by John Keats in 1819 Romantic Poem Romantics wrote/painted/created to rebel against Enlightenment ideals of order, rationality and science Romantics believed Enlightenment missed the point of being human: emotions Big 6 Romantics: Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelly, Byron and Keats

Details about this poem Song-like, imitates a folk ballad Title taken from a 15th century French poem 12 stanzas of Iambic tetrameter (four sets of Iambs per line EXCEPT in fourth line which is shorter. WHY? Let’s look at that again later…) O what/ can ail/ thee, knight/ at arms Title Translation: The Beautiful Lady without Mercy

La Belle Dame Sans Merci "O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither'd 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 look'd 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 sigh'd full sore; And there I shut her wild, wild eyes With kisses four. "And there she lullèd me asleep, And there I dream'd – ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dream'd On the cold hill's side. "I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all: They cried, 'La belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee 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 wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing."  

By Henry Rheam

Speaker 1: unknown speaker "O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither'd 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." Time period? What does he see? What does he ask? What stands out to you? What commonly used literary symbols do you see? It is autumn. How do we know? Lily? Rose?

By Frank Cowper By Arthur Hughes

Speaker 2: The Knight What happens? What do you notice? What bothers you or makes you wonder? "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 look'd 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

The Knight – con’t "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 sigh'd full sore; And there I shut her wild, wild eyes With kisses four. What happens? What do you notice? What bothers you or makes you wonder?

By John William Waterhouse By Walter Crane

The Knight – con’t "And there she lullèd me asleep, And there I dream'd – ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dream'd On the cold hill's side. "I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all: They cried, 'La belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee 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. What happens? What do you notice? What bothers you or makes you wonder?

The Knight – con’t "And this is why I sojourn here Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing." What happens? What do you notice? What bothers you or makes you wonder?

BY: ? By Robert Bell

Questions What is this poem’s theme/message? What is the deal with the faery-lady? Why does she cry (30) and why are her eyes wild (16,31) and why the repetition of wild? Is your narrator reliable? Why or why not? He falls asleep in the “elfin grot” so how does he get to the “cold hill’s side”? Who is the unnamed speaker?

The Dream This poem is 48 lines long 8 ½ lines are about the dream 6 are about the consequences of the dream Is this significant? Thought: He wakes from the dream on a cold hill. Is this important?