John Keats 1795-1817

The Romantics The Poets Timeline

La Belle Dame sans Merci Which story is told in this ballad and by whom? What impression do you get of the woman in the poem? How are the men portrayed? How does the landscape contribute to the story?

The Ballad Form A poem or song which tells a story using simple language. Ballad metre is traditionally constructed from quatrains of alternate four and three stress lines rhymed abcb. The story is told through dialogue and action and the subject matter is usually tragic and often violent.

The Ballad was never taken particularly seriously by Poets, reflecting the ‘folk’ nature of its origins. Thomas Percy, Reliques of Ancient English Poetry (1765) established the ballad’s literary respectability and led to 19th century Poets in particular developing the so-called, ‘literary’ ballad.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribb’d sea-sand.

How does Keats’ ballad form depart from traditional form?

‘it would be difficult in any reading of Keats’ ballad not to be enthralled by the haunting power of its rhythm, by its delicate intermingling of the fragile and the grotesque, the tender and the weird, and by the perfect economy by which these effects are achieved.’ The Finer Tone, Keats’ Major Poems, 1953 Earl Wasserman