La Belle Dame Sans Merci by thelump

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

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La Belle Dame sans Merci
By John Keats

Ah, 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 fairy’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 fairy’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 dreamt
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 gaped 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.

100% BlackPrismacolor ink, Fabercastel Forest Green Colored Pencil, Mead Sketchpaper

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Category Books » Classical Literature
Date Submitted August 11, 2007, 8:34:44 AM
Views 1729
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Vote Score 3

Comments 3
Media Other drawing
Time Taken 3 hours
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Comments (3)

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PhoenixAshes on August 14, 2007, 3:13:02 AM

Cool! I love the contrast--very dramatic!

_theater_freak_147 on August 12, 2007, 2:21:39 PM

Pretty! I love the shading! :)

WH2007 on August 11, 2007, 1:38:03 AM

Great picture! I know this poem very well because I had it on one of my university exams :) Good job!