la belle dame sans merci Flashcards
(41 cards)
‘Alone and palely loitering’
using the lexical field of isolation, which contrasts the stereotypical images and impressions of a knight. This is because knights are usually brave and strong, which contrasts with the situation of ‘our’ knight.
“The sedge has withered from the lake, and no birds sing”
The “sedge” is a marsh plant. The fact that it is ‘withered’ suggests it is winter, a brutal, cold, sad season; the season of death. This matches the mood of the knight, an example of pathetic fallacy.
The pace of the first verse is slow, and this line is particularly heavy, with a dragging rhythm, appropriate for the depressed mood of the knight.
And no birds sing.
The fact that ‘no bird sings’ indicates lack of life - the knight is left bereft of the archetypal romantic ideas. It signifies the devastation of the knight’s inner emotional life. The lack of singing also signifies the lack of harmony in nature, potentially mirroring the knight’s inability to understand his loved one when she speaks in ‘language strange’.
‘Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?’
Keats seems to feel sorry for the knight. As a young man the poet was susceptible to women and fell in love readily. It could be that he identifies with the knight.
When the poem was written Keats was very ill. The portrayal of the knight in physical and emotional decline could reflect Keats’ recognition of his own impending fate.
Note the repetition of ‘so’, to reinforce the knight’s misery. Also, the repetition of the opening question ‘what can ail thee?’ is a refrain that leads into the story.
“squirrel’s granary is full”
Keats urges the knight to be more aware of the joys of nature and of the abundance around him. The squirrel’s granary could be a metaphor for life’s gifts, the abundance of the natural world.
And the harvest’s done.’
This has a similar significance as the previous line. It might be said, though, that harvest precedes winter, the latter being a metaphor for death. So perhaps this is deliberately setting an ominous tone
‘I see a lily on thy brow’
While the lily could be a symbol of spring and hope for the future, here it may also be considered a symbol of death. White lilies signify the pale skin of the dying. While Keats was a Romantic-era poet, pre-dating the Victorians, it is interesting to note that, in Victorian times and still sometimes today, lilies were the traditional flowers at funerals.
‘And on thy cheek a fading rose
Roses are often associated with love in Western culture (hence all the advertisements around Valentine’s Day), but the knight’s “rose” is “fading” and “wither[ing].” Sounds like a pretty clear metaphor for the end of a romantic relationship. But like the lily, the rose describes the knight’s complexion. The rose is “fading” from the knight’s “cheeks.” So the rose metaphor is doing double duty - it’s describing both his “fading” love affair, and his increasingly pale complexion.
‘a faery’s child’
The lady he met is compared to a the child of a faery (fairy), a creature of fantasy.
‘Her hair was long’
Long, loose hair on a woman at the time this was written was associated with sensuality and sexuality. Long hair also serves to further enhance the lady’s nature as wild and free.
‘her foot was light’
This creates an image of vulnerability and fragility- her light frame would make her frail and unable to defend herself.
The ‘light’ foot also suggests fleetness and quick movements, and fits in with her wildness, Small feet and slender ankles were considered beautiful.
One alternative interpretation is that the knight takes advantage of this strange young girl and subsequently gets his comeuppance. It could be said that this is a particularly misogynistic portrayal of the lady.
‘And her eyes were wild’
The surprising addition of “wild” to the more archetypal beauty of the Belle Dame’s “long” hair and “light” foot is saved for the final line of this stanza, giving the reader the same shock the speaking knight had when her eyes first flashed at him. It also suggests the untamed energy of the faery, beast and animal like, uncontrollable by the knight.
‘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.’
The circular imagery of these gifts could show that the lady is trapped. ‘And made sweet moan’. ‘And made sweet moan’. Now, this could be taken as sexual connotations, showing maybe the two were in love or that the knight forcefully had done some actions. The sweet moan could be seen as the lady protesting and going against the knight
‘I set her on my pacing steed,’
This could be interpreted as a euphemism for sex. The lady is the object of this sentence, whilst the Knight has a more dominant role. He places her above him
And nothing else saw all day long,’
This could be read that the knight is blinded by love, and that he loves the lady. It could also be seen that he is monitoring the lady and making sure that she can’t escape.
‘She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild’
the unusual food suggests that he is being put under her spell; she has magic power over him
And sure in language strange she said —
‘I love thee true’.
The use of language strange makes us suspicious of what has happened. This has negative connotations and makes us believe that maybe the lady has not said this. Did the lady actually say this? Or is the knight dreaming and wishfully thinking that this occurred.
She took me to’
We now move to the Lady’s territory, and the lady now takes control. She leads him, whereas before he was the more dominant figure, making garlands for her and placing her on his horse. The Knight is now prey, as the power role shifts.
And there she lullèd me asleep
the fact that she “lulled” the knight - who by title is ideally supposed to be brave, noble and heroic - shows her taking on a motherly role; she shows her true love and cares for the knight as if he was a child being put to sleep. Yet, this could also be taken alternatively and being put to sleep could imply his deteriorating physical and mental state.
‘I saw pale kings, and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale’
“p” plosive = aggressive - victims of treachery before, connotations of death and coldness
‘I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,’
haunting image refers to the open mouth of a corpse or skeleton
FORM
Ballad- A form of narrative poetry, which was planned to be read aloud. Tells the story in a simple way so that it’s easy to remember. It has an ending rhyme of ABCB, which is quite easy to remember and sounds nice.
Iambic Tetrameter- Four beats in a line, 8 syllables per line. It adds to the abrupt ending that we feel because of ‘no birds sing’. The last line of each stanza does not follow the meter. Stanzas lack a conclusion, which could show that we only hear one point of view, which is from the knight.
Cyclical Element: The first stanza is almost repeated in the last stanza. This shows the cyclical element of the poem. As cyclical elements are almost inescapable and set, it could show that the knight’s fate is also like so and that his fate was set since the start of the poem.
THEMES
destructive love/ romance/ death/ nature
Keatsian features / Romantic features
sensory language/ nature/ dream-like state
