la belle dame sans merci Flashcards
“I see a lily on thy brow, / With anguish moist and fever-dew”
-This imagery conveys the knight’s physical and emotional deterioration. The lily is traditionally associated with death and mourning, suggesting the knight’s impending demise or spiritual death. The “anguish moist and fever-dew” evokes the image of sweat caused by illness or distress, emphasizing his suffering. Keats uses this vivid imagery to depict the knight as a figure drained of vitality, foreshadowing the tragic consequences of his encounter with the femme fatale
“Her hair was long, her foot was light, / And her eyes were wild”
The description of the lady combines ethereal beauty with unsettling wildness. Her “long hair” and “light foot” evoke an image of grace and otherworldly allure, while her “wild eyes” hint at danger and unpredictability. This juxtaposition underscores her dual nature as both enchanting and perilous. The imagery draws readers into the knight’s fascination with her, while subtly warning of her destructive power
“She took me to her Elfin grot, / And there she wept and sighed full sore”
The “Elfin grot” suggests a mystical, fairy-like realm that is both alluring and eerie. The imagery creates a dreamlike atmosphere that mirrors the knight’s enchantment. Her weeping adds emotional depth but also ambiguity—why does she cry? This moment reveals her complexity as a character, blending vulnerability with manipulation. The grot itself symbolizes isolation and entrapment, emphasizing the knight’s eventual downfall
“I saw pale kings and princes too, / Pale warriors, death-pale were they all”
This haunting imagery introduces a chilling vision of the lady’s previous victims. The repetition of “pale” emphasizes their lifelessness and reinforces the theme of decay and death. These figures serve as a warning to the knight about his fate, illustrating how the lady ensnares men only to leave them desolate. The spectral imagery heightens the poem’s Gothic tone while underscoring the destructive consequences of obsession
tone
The tone of La Belle Dame sans Merci is sad and full of despair, showing themes of loss and heartbreak. This is clear in the lines:
“Alone and palely loitering; / The sedge has withered from the lake, / And no birds sing.”
These words create a gloomy and lifeless mood. The “withered sedge” and silence of “no birds sing” show a barren landscape that reflects the knight’s sadness and emptiness after being abandoned by the mysterious lady, known as pathetic fallacy. The poem starts and ends in the same lonely setting, showing how the knight is trapped in his sorrow.
This tone highlights the pain of unreturned love and how obsession can lead to misery,
form
- Ballad Form
The poem is written as a lyrical ballad, a traditional form used to tell stories. It consists of 12 quatrains (four-line stanzas) with a regular ABCB rhyme scheme, creating a musical and flowing rhythm. This structure mirrors the oral tradition of ballads, enhancing the mythical and timeless quality of the narrative. - Meter: Iambic Tetrameter
Keats employs iambic tetrameter, where each line typically has four stressed syllables. This meter gives the poem a song-like rhythm, drawing readers into the knight’s tragic tale. However, Keats occasionally disrupts this smooth rhythm, such as in “I saw their starved lips in the gloam”, to emphasize the knight’s emotional turmoil and horror
structure
- Repetition and Cyclical Structure
The poem begins and ends with the same imagery of desolation: “And no birds sing.” This cyclical structure reinforces the knight’s unchanging despair and entrapment in his sorrowful state. It reflects the futility of his situation, emphasizing themes of obsession and loss. - Contrast Between Seasons
Keats contrasts the barren autumnal setting at the start and end with the lush, summery imagery during the knight’s encounter with the lady. This shift symbolizes how her beauty temporarily transforms his perception of reality, but ultimately leaves him in desolation
