And this is why I sojourn here, Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing. We are being lulled into another realm, gently hypnotized and led astray by the poem. 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. He does not seem brave and valiant. This transition from life to death is seen in the transition from fall to winter imagery. We give ourselves up to ideals of beauty, then in a trice it is gone, or we go through experiences that are not to our liking, that leave us spent, hollowed out. Although the knight is still alive, he is on the verge of death and awaits what comes next in life.
Is the knight so close to meeting his Maker? There is no doubt that he had difficulty expressing himself when in the company of women. The end of the poem repeats the beginning almost verbatim. Keats appropriates this phrase for a ballad which has been generally read as the story of a seductive and treacherous woman who tempts men away from the real world and then leaves them, their dreams unfulfilled and their lives blighted. I just want you to know, I've made billions of dollars with computers. However, one could also argue that Keats wrote this poem as a dedicated tribute to absolute beauty.
In the final stanza of this poem, the Knight finally answers the original question of the first speaker. Emphasize that these names just describe the system of stressed syllables already inherent in English. Perhaps it refers to the way of expressing her love. The poet used a single rhyme in each stanza, so that the second and the fourth lines rhyme. Have students work in groups to fill in the blank with their own words.
And that unnerving is all in the rhythm. He started courting her, making her garlands and letting her ride his horse. Sleep allows him a release from the supernatural hold the woman had over him. La belle dame sans merci, the beautiful lady without pity, is a femme fatale, a Circelike figure who attracts lovers only to destroy them by her supernatural powers. A new image of twilight is brought up, which is the time of day right before darkness. Keats uses a number of different language techniques to make the poem effective.
A haunting ominous effect is created through Keats's use of the formal features of the traditional ballad. There are many such figures in traditional supernatural ballads concerned with a faery's seduction of a human; notable examples include Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer. Each line has eight syllables to it, with the last line of each stanza varying from four to five syllables. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms, So haggard and so woe-begone? Theme The themes running through the poem are death, life, love and magic. Stanza 9 - She calmed me down too, so much so I feel asleep and had a dream. It is important that you understand that you have the capability for it and one day it will strike us all.
This 1795 Words 8 Pages works. The sedge has withered from the lake, And no birds sing. Materialistic beauty is captivating yet ephemeral, and every being that strives to find it, has to be prepared for losing it too, that is the revenge of time. A feminist critic might point to the many ambiguities, contradictions and lacunae in the text to offer a counter-reading in which it is the lady who is, in a sense, the victim. They create ambiguity out of simple concepts as they are so powerful and deep.
With the fourth stanza the knight starts to tell his tale: He had met a beautiful maiden in the meadows. Just as in the first and second stanzas and that question 'O what can ail thee? He is utterly alone in his last moments, and all because he was seduced by that beautiful fairy-woman without mercy. She speaks a strange language, and in her elfin grotto she lulls him to sleep. He met a woman in the meadows Meads , no ordinary woman but a beauty, an otherworldly figure. In this case, Keats is not depicting the idealized world of the nightingale or of 's temple, but a world of pure nightmares, which stem from the loss of a love-attachment. Starting with an old favourite.
This particular ballad has a meter and rhyme scheme that produces a flow that engages the reader. Yes, there might be sexy connotations to this line, too. Wandering in this barren landscape, he is neither in the masculine world of strife and action nor the feminine world of the bower. Her romantic gestures in return. Why does Keats use so many? This knight looks miserable and sick. Once a knight was wandering about in a sad and dejected mood by the side of the lake.
The last line is iambic duometer, or a 5 syllable variation. Probably they do love making and also had sex. Stanza 6 - Afterwards he put her on his horse and he walked alongside as she sang her exotic songs. Contrary to that the rose is a symbol of love but it is fading. He seems to be wandering about aimlessly. The cold is now referenced with regards to the ensuing winter.