La Belle Dame sans Merci - John Keats
A Knight’s Spellbound Lament in a Haunting Encounter
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 lulled me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamed
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 withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
John Keats’s “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” first published in 1819, is a haunting ballad that portrays a knight bewitched by a mysterious, otherworldly woman. Told mostly through direct address—“O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms?”—the poem evokes a sense of quiet dread and loneliness from the outset, underscored by the lake’s withered sedge and the absence of birdsong.
Through the knight’s own recollection, we learn he encountered an enchanting “faery’s child” who enthralled him with sweet moans and strange language, eventually leading him to her elfin grot. There, she lulled him to sleep, and he dreamed of pale princes and warriors who, like him, had fallen under her spell. When he awoke, he was deserted on the cold hillside.
Despite its brevity, the poem presents rich Romantic themes: the interplay of fantasy and reality, the fatal attraction of beauty, and the suffering of unrequited or ill-fated love. Keats’s use of natural imagery—faded flowers, a lifeless landscape—mirrors the knight’s desolation and hints at the peril in surrendering to fleeting enchantment. The ballad form and haunting refrain (“And no birds sing”) underscore the atmosphere of sorrow and mystery.
By the closing stanza, the reason for the knight’s wretched state is made clear: his intense longing for an elusive vision of love has left him “alone and palely loitering.” In this way, Keats illustrates not just the power of a beautiful but possibly malevolent figure, but also the inescapable regret that follows an encounter with an unattainable ideal. Although the poem ends with a return to its ominous setting, it lingers in the mind as a cautionary tale of how quickly rapture can turn to despair.
Key points
• The poem illustrates a knight’s entrancement by a mysterious, possibly supernatural woman.
• Keats employs a stark, forlorn landscape to mirror the knight’s desolation.
• Recurring motifs of fading natural life underscore the precarious nature of enchantment.
• The ballad style and refrain create a mood of quiet tragedy and lingering mystery.
• Suggests the danger of pursuing a vision of love that ultimately cannot be sustained.