Points for Discussion
Hello, Dear readers,
Today, I will be discussing all the important points mentioned in the poem, La Belle Dame Sans Merci, composed by a great romantic poet John Keats. I ensure you will get a complete idea to write the summary, central idea and explanation of the poem orderly. You will be able to write the specification and figure of speech used in this poem too. After reading this page you will find the secret to score outstanding marks in the board examination.
Let’s get started
Contents: La Belle Dame Sans Merci
- About the Poet,
- Short introduction of the Poem,
- Text Of the Poem
- The central idea of The Poem (English and Hindi)
- Reference, context and explanation
- Relevant Quotations and statements
- Specification (Themes and figure of speech etc.)
The Poet: John Keats
John Keats was born on 31 October 1795, Moorgate, City of London, United Kingdom. he was a great English Romantic poet of his period.
Keats was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. He died of tuberculosis at the young age of 25 in Italy. (Wikipedia)
Short Introduction to the Poem
La Belle Dame sans merci, composed by John Keats. It was, first, published in 1820. The meaning of the poems’ title is “The Beautiful Lady Without Pity,”. It describes the encounter between a knight and a mysterious elfin beauty who ultimately abandons him.
It is written in the style of a folk ballad, with the first three stanzas a query to the knight and the remaining nine stanzas the knight’s reply. Keats took the title of the poem form a medieval poem with the same name by the French poet Alain Chartier
Poem:La Belle Dame sans merci
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 lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hillside.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath 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.
Short Movie: La Belle Dame sans merci
Central Idea: La Belle Dame Sans Merci
In this poem, the poet describes a miserable knight who has been seduced by an evil spirit disguised as a beautiful lady. The knight was charmed by the beauty and grace of the beautiful lady.
The lady was treacherous she took him to her cave they both express love for each other. She didn’t put him to sleep. The knight saw a dream in which a number of kings, princes and warriors has been seduced by the cruel lady.
They warned him not to trust the lady. The knight woke up abruptly in great mental confusion and found himself all alone by the hillside. The lady had left him alone and she could not be seen anywhere.
Translation:La Belle Dame Sans Merci
इस कविता में, कवि एक दुखी शूरवीर(kinght) का वर्णन करता है जिसे एक खूबसूरत महिला के रूप में प्रच्छन्न बुरी आत्मा द्वारा बहकाया गया है। नाइट (Knight) सुंदर महिला की सुंदरता और अनुग्रह से मंत्रमुग्ध था। महिला को विश्वासघाती था कि वह उसे अपनी गुफा में ले जाए, वे दोनों एक दूसरे के लिए प्यार व्यक्त करते हैं। उसने उसे सोने के लिए नहीं रखा।
नाइट(knight) ने एक सपना देखा जिसमें कई राजाओं, राजकुमारों और योद्धाओं को क्रूर महिला द्वारा बहकाया गया है। उन्होंने उसे महिला पर भरोसा न करने की चेतावनी दी। शूरवीर ने बड़ी मानसिक उलझन में अचानक उठकर खुद को पहाड़ी के किनारे अकेला पाया। महिला ने उसे अकेला छोड़ दिया था और उसे कहीं भी नहीं देखा जा सकता था।
Note: Hindi version is a machine translation, not professionally translated. so you are recommended to go through the English Version.
Reference Context and Explanation
Stanza 1-3
O, what can ail thee…………………………………..fast withereth too.
Reference: These lines have been taken from the poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci composed by John Keats.
Same reference will be written for other lines
Context: In this stanzas, the poet asks the knight why he is wandering in such bad weather, where the knight seems physically and mentally tired too. To wandering alone in that deserted area for the knight is truly odd.
Explanation
The night is alone and looking and confused. He appears to be dying he is wandering in a deserted wasteland where the plant life has dried and no birds are singing.
He is declining, pale and the rose in his cheeks like the sedge is withering. The poet feels that something is troubling the Knight he ask him what is troubling him.
The Knight is looking very lean, hollow-eyed, tired and worn- out. He appears very miserable, full of trouble and suffering. The poet says that the stock of chestnuts which the squirrels collect in the hollow of a tree for the rainy days is full.
The former has also reaped and gathered their harvest. everyone, thus, appears to be at comfort and at ease. However, the knight looks very miserable. Thus, the poet asks the knight what is troubling him.
The poet tells the knight that like a white lily in winter, His brow is very pale. Anxiety can be seen on the knights’ face. The knight is sweating on account of mental tension.
His face is a weight with sweet caused by the fever due to his deep mental suffering. The rosy colour of his cheeks has grown lighter and will soon fade away. Thereby, he will gradually lose his freshness and beauty.
Keywords and Quick Points
- Poet asks about the exhausted appearance of the knight
- describe the geographical scene of the place where knight is loitering.
- poet describes the facial expressions of the knight like sweaty, feverish and pale appearance
Stanza 4-8
I met a lady…………………………….with kisses four.
Context: The poet wanted to know the reason behind the knight’s miserable state. The knight tells the poet about the lady whom he encountered.
Explanation
The knight replies to the poet that he met a lady in the meadow, she was so beautiful that she looks like the daughter of a fairy. She had long hair. She walked a graceful manner. Her eyes were full of love and emotional excitement.
The knight tells the poet that he made a garland of flowers as an ornament for the beautiful lady. He also made bracelets for her hand and girdle (belt) of a beautiful sweet-smelling flower. He offered these to the lady as a token of his love. The lady looked at him with loving eyes and sang a sweet song for him.
The knight lifted the beautiful lady up and placed her on his galloping horse. All-day, he kept looking at her and admired her beauty. He saw nothing else because she turned her face to one side and looked at him with her loving eyes.
She also sang a mysterious song that appears to the knight as a song of fairies.The beautiful lady found delicious fruit and offered it to the knight. She also gave him honey from the forest and juice of manna which is considered as the heavenly food.
After that, she said something in a strange language. The knight, though, could not understand her language, felt it as her confession Of Love for him. She told him that she truly loved him.
The lady took the knight to her fairy cave. There she expressed her deep love for the knight. She wept bitterly and heaved a heavy sigh. The knight was assured of her true love and out of the passion closed her eyes which were full of emotions and tears.
He then kissed her passionately, again and again. He tried to assure her that he would never leave her. The lady enjoyed the intense love expressed by the knight.
Keywords and Quick Point
- Knight replies the Poet/Narrator that he met a fairly girl
- He describes her attractive and charming body
- He offers her Garland and bracelets
- knight enjoy the day with full of romance with the lady on horse
- She sings a song for his to show her true love
- Lady took him at the crest of the hill in beautiful cottage and made him sleep
Stanza 9-11
Context: The knight describes before the poet how the lady put him to sleep and the fearful dream he saw.
Explanation
The lady put the knight to sleep in her fairy cave. While the night was asleep, he saw a very horrifying dream. It was the last dream that he saw on the cold hillside.
He never dreamt again because, after this, he could not sleep again.The knight saw many kings, Princess and warriors in his dream. All of them are very pale and weak like a dead body. They look like for non-deserted lovers
. They were warning the knights that the beautiful lady has no mercy in her heart. Like him, they too had fallen for her beauty and loves. She captivated them with her supernatural power. The knight had also made the same fate as them.
The knight saw in the dim light the dry lips of the kings, Princess and warriors. Their lips were wide open as they were warning the kings against some unpleasant happenings that had taken place.
The king, suddenly, woke up from his sleep and found himself all alone on the cold hillside. The lady had deserted him and she was nowhere to be found.
Keywords and Quick Points
- Knight replies the Poet/Narrator that he met a fairly lady
- He describes her attractive and charming body
- He offers her Garland and bracelets
- knight enjoy the day with full of romance with the lady on horse
- She sings song for his to show her true love
- The Lady took him at the crest of the hill in a beautiful cottage and made him sleep
Specifications
- The major theme of ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ is Illusion versus reality, love and seduction and death
- The poem highlight the universal message that love, beauty and charms are short-lived or temporary, the physical attraction can mislead the person
- figure of speech and literary devices: Assonance, consonance, imagery, metaphor, symbolism and anaphora