La Belle Dame Sans Merci - John Keats Chapter

March 02, 2022

About the Poet - John Keats

John Keats (1795-1821), an apothecary's apprentice. abandoned his medical profession to become a poet of beauty and verbal felicity. His imagery is colorful and sensuous and his word paintings are remarkable. Influenced by Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton, Keats's poetry blends the Romantic with the philosophical. Keats's poems were panned by critics during his lifetime, but his reputation as a poet grew steadily after his death with the increasing popularity of Romanticism. He is now seen as a key figure of the Romantic Movement in English literature. His works have greatly influenced later writers, and his letters and poems are still very popular today and studied in detail by students of literature. Keats's well-known poems are 'Lamia', 'Eve of StAgnes", ‘Isabella', 'Hyperion', 'Endymion' and his famous odes.

Summary

La Belle Dame sans Merci is one of the famous poems written by John Keats. It is a ballad that tells the story of a knight who fell in love with a beautiful young lady and now suffers from a broken heart. Here, the unidentified fellow presents as a questioner. The questioner makes an inquiry why the knight-at-arms who meet him is unhappy. The knight-at-arms response to the questioner's inquiry. From this, we understand the tragic story of the knight-at-arms.

The poem starts with the poet finding a solitary knight stumbling around the countryside. The season is the winter season. No grass grows on the river banks, the chirping birds are absent, squirrels and other animals have hoarded food to sustain them throughout winter, and the harvest season is over. In such a condition the unidentified fellow sees the knight-at-arms wandering lonely on the hile side. He is in a miserable condition: the color is fast fading from his cheeks and his cheeks are faded & withered. In the third stanza, the poet explains the woeful condition of the knight-at-arm. He is walking aimlessly around the moor, and Noone knows what is happened that has fallen him into such a woeful condition. The unidentified fellow asks the question to him as, 'O, what can ail thee, knight-at-arms/Alone and palely loitering?' His attitude towards the knight-at-arms is sympathetic.

In the fourth stanza, the knight-at-arms give a response to the questions and he tells, He had met a young beautiful lady in the meadows. She was the most beautiful lady that he had cast eyes upon. With long flowing hair and a soft unearthly grace which led him to believe that she must be a fairy's daughter. The knight-at-arms comes under the impact of her beauty. He tells how she also attracted him and Joined him on his horse and they wandered together.

He had did not notice anything else except her. He made a garland for her, makes bracelets out of flowers and fragrant girdles too. He tells us she also looked at him as she did love him and sweetly she sang for him. She gazed at him lovingly, giving him delectable things to eat such as sweet roots and wild honey. She spoke in an unknown language to him, but yet he understood that she assure him that she also loved him with all her heart.

In the next stanza, we come to know an account of the knight-at-arms visit to her elfin grot. The lady took him to her elfin-grot. He tells us that when he kissed her 'Wild-troubled eyes' for four times to sleep. She looked at him sadly. Then she lulled him to sleep. As they slept together on the hillside, the knight had a dream: he saw the deathly visions of kings, princes, and warriors with pale lips. They all cried out to him as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci Hath thee in thrall?" they warned him that the lady has no mercy and he is in her trap. The dream he sees awaken him and found himself alone, without his lover's insight. As the knight realizes he is all alone. The lady has deceived him and left him alone there he becomes depressed. so, he has been wandering the land ever since, hoping either for his lady to return or for death to embrace him.

Short Questions

a) What does the speaker ask the knight-at-arms? Ans:

'La Belle Dame Sans Merci is a fine composition of John Keats. It is a ballad that tells us the story of a knight who fell in love with a beautiful young lady who deceived him and left him alone. Now the knight-at-arms suffers from a broken heart and he is wandering lonely around the countryside. Here, the poet presents an unidentified fellow who asks the question to a knight and he gives the answer to him. When the speaker saw the knight-at-arms in a miserable condition and palely wandering on the hillside, the speaker asks him as 'O, what can ail thee knight-at-arms/Alone and palely loitering? The speaker asks him why he is wandering lonely there with a pale face, is there anything that happened to him which made him so sad and miserable?

b) Who is responsible for the knight's condition?

Ans: The poem 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci is a fine piece of composition written by John Keats. It is a ballad that tells us a story of a knight who fell in love with a beautiful young lady who deceived him and now he suffers from a broken heart. According to the knight-at-arms: the young beautiful lady is responsible for his miserable condition because knight-at-arms is attracted towards her charm and the lady also confesses that she also loves him, they wandered together on his horse on the hillside all day. knight made a garland, bracelets, and fragrant girdle for her and she also give him sweet roots, wild honey, and manna dew to eat. The young lady took him into her elfin-grot where they slept together but when he awakened from his horror dream, he found himself alone there on the hillside. The lady has deceived him & left him alone there, so he becomes depressed.

c) How did the knight and the lady spend their time?

Ans: The knight-at-arms saw a beautiful young lady in the meadows. She was the most beautiful lady with long flowing hair and a soft unearthly grace which led him to believe that she must be a fairy's daughter. The knight falls in love with her and she also attracted him and joined him on his horse. They wandered together on the horse all day. He made a garland and bracelets of flowers for her and made fragrant girdle too. She finds sweet roots, wild honey, and manna dew for him. The young beautiful lady took the knight-at-arms into her elfin grot where she sing a song for him to make asleep and they slept together on the hillside. In this way, they both spend their whole day sharing their love for each other.

d) What did the knight see in his dream?

Ans: According to the knight-at-arms, he falls in love with a young beautiful lady whom he meets in the meadows. She was most beautiful as like the fairy's child. He was attracted to her and she was also attracted to him. They both wandered together on his horse on the hillside. One day the young lady took him into her elfin-grot where they sleep together. He saw a horror dream in which he saw deathly images of the kings, princes, and warriors with pale lips. And they all cried out and warned him that the lady has no mercy and he is in her trap.

Essay-Type Question

Q- The poem is about the joyous and sad aspects of love. Discuss.

Write a critical appreciation of the poem, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci.

Ans: La Belle Dame Sans Merci' is a famous poem written by John Keats. It is written in the form of a ballad and based on a French song. It tells us the story of a knight-at-arms who fell in love with a beautiful young lady who deceived him and left him alone. The knight suffers from a broken heart & frustration, so he wandered on the hillside lonely with a pale face in search of his love.

In this poem, the poet presents an unidentified person who enquires about why knight-at-arm is so unhappy. The knight gives the answer to his question and from that, we know the story of his life. The poet says that in the season of winter an unidentified person sees the knight-at-arms wandering lonely on the hillside. His cheeks are pale. faded & withered. The unidentified person asks him why he is so sad?

In the response to his question the knight tells that, he had met a young beautiful girl in meadows. She was most beautiful and seems to be no less than a fairy's child. The knight-at-arms comes under the impact of her beauty. She is also attracted towards him and they both together wander on the hillside on his horse. He made a garland, bracelets, and fragrant girdle too, for her love.

The beautiful woman is also attracted to him and she gives some delectable things to eat, such as sweet roots and wild honey. She also gives the manna-dew to him. After then the lady took him to her elfin-grot. Here, the knight-at-arms express the situation in which he spends time with his lover. He confess that he had kissed her 'wild-troubled eyes' four times. Then the lady lulled him to sleep. As the knight-at-arms regards that they slept together on the hillside. The knight had a dream in which he saw the terrible picture of deathly images, pictures of kings, princes, and worriers, their face was pale and their lips were pale & withered. In his dream, he saw that the kings, princes & worriers cried out to him and give warning to him, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Hath thee in thrall!' It means that they want to suggest to him that the woman is not a loyal woman, she is without mercy and he is under her trap.

With these deadly images, he woke up from a dream and saw that the woman is not there with him. She deceived him and left him alone there. He became depressed since ever, he has been wandering the land, hoping either his lady return to him or for death accepts him.

Reference to Context

1. I see a lily on their brow
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks, a fading rose
Fast withereth too!

Reference :

The above lines are taken from the poem. 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', written by John Keats. The poet describes the frustration of knight-at-arms because of the deception by his false beloved.

Context

In the opening of the poem, the knight-at-arms is presented an in miserable condition. An unidentified fellow eagerly wants to know the misery of the knight and he asks why he is sad, the knight tells him about his love and how he was deceived by his beloved. The poet describes the season as winter but the atmosphere is dull and boring. No grass grows on the river banks, the chirping birds are absent, squirrels and other animals have hoarded food to sustain them throughout the winter. In that situation, the unidentified fellow saw the knight-at-arms looks haggard and woe-begone. The lily on his brow is dried up and his cheeks look like the faded rose. The knight is despairing and frustrate in love, so he looks like a faded nose.

Conclusion:

The above lines are remarkable for that describes the miserable condition of the knight-at-arms and we come to know the story of his frustrated love.

2. 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.

Reference :

The above lines are taken from the poem, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', written by John Keats. The above lines explain the beauty of the young lady to whom the knight-at-arms meet on the hillside.

Context :

The poem explains the love of a knight-at-arms who suffers from a broken heart. The knight-at-arms wandering lonely on the hillside in sorrow. His cheeks are faded & withered. An unidentified person saw him and asked him about his misery. The knight-at-arms told that he meet a young lady in the meadows who is so beautiful. She has long flowing hair and her soft unearthly grace which led him to believe that she must be a fairy's child. Her feet were light and her eyes were wild. He comes under the impact of her beauty and expresses his love for her.

Conclusion :

The knight-at-arms fall in love with the deceived woman who is most beautiful and she looks like the fairy's child.

3. She found me roots of relish sweet,

And honey wild and manna - dew,

And sure in language strange, she said -

"I Love thee true"

Reference :

The above lines are taken from the poem, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci, written by John Keats. The poem expresses the love story of the knight-at-arms and how he was decieved by the young lady. Context:

As the knight-at-arms tells the story about how he met a young beautiful lady who is most beautiful as like the fairy's child. Her eyes were most beautiful, her hair was long. The knight tells that he comes under her impact and they both wandered on his horse on the hillside. The knight-at-arms confess that he has fallen in love with her and he made a garland, bracelets, and fragrant girdle for her love. She was also attracted to him and looked at him as she did also love him. She gives such delectable things to eat such as sweet roots, wild honey, and manna dew to express her love for him, and in an unknown language she speaks to him from which he understands she also loves him with all her heart.

Conclusion :

To conclude, the above lines suggest to us the love of the knight-at-arms towards the lady and the young beautiful 'lady's love for him, which is really not true but the knight thinks so.

4. 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 !"

Reference :

The above lines are taken from the poem 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci, written by John Keats. The poem is written in the French language and the meaning of the title is the lady is without kindness.

Context:

The poem is written in the French language and the title, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' means the beautiful young lady is without kindness. The poem expresses the knight-at-arms love story with a young beautiful lady to whom he meets in meads on the hillside. She is most beautiful as like fairy's child and the knight-at-arms attracted towards her. She also confess that she also loved him and give him sweet roots and wild honey to eat. They both wandered together on his horse and one day she took him to her elfin grot where they slept together. As the knight was in sleep he saw a horror dream in which he saw the deathly images of the kings, princes, and worriers with pale lips. They all cried out to him as "La Belle Dame Sans Merci. Hath thee in thrall ?" they warned him that the lady is without kindness and he is in her trap.