What is the meaning of poem "La Belle Dame" by John Keats?

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

And no birds sing.



Oh 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 cheek 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 eyes

With kisses four.



And there she lulled me asleep

And there I dreamed--ah! woe betide!

The latest dream I ever dreamed

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.What is the meaning of poem "La Belle Dame" by John Keats?Here is an explanation

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/englis鈥?/a>





TW KWhat is the meaning of poem "La Belle Dame" by John Keats?My interpretation that he fell in love with a women, and she led him astray. All the war/knight references made me believe that possibly, she led him into conflict or against his own people (cause he looks at her as a fairy) I could also see someone easily making references to arthurian legend, with the celtic and lake references. Wikipedia had an article on it so I would check that out.



The basic translation of la belle dame sans merci is The Lady without pity and was a common theme, so I would check out some of those other poems as well.What is the meaning of poem "La Belle Dame" by John Keats?"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" was originally written by a French monk in the 12th century and later adapted to English by John Keats.



During the Victorian Era, tragic female or femme fatale characters were very popular and often portrayed in art by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, of whom La Belle was a very popular subjec to f theirs - along with Ophelia from Shakespeare's Hamlet.



La Belle recounts a fey woman of sorts who seduces knights or men of valor and honor to come with her to her realm where she enchants them and they spend all of eternity in her thrall. Nice huh?



Fey folk were the subject of many songs and legends and often were up to no good.



Here is a great picture of La Belle



http://www.flickr.com/photos/litmuse/342鈥?/a>



and another



http://www.digitalart.ab.ca/art/symbolis鈥?/a>What is the meaning of poem "La Belle Dame" by John Keats?
The title of the poem transtlates to "Beautiful Woman without Mercy", so it seems to me the knight is upset about being abandoned by a beautiful lady.