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La Belle Dame Sans Merci
A Ballad
A Ballad
I
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
II
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woebegone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
III
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
IV
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.
Full beautiful-
And her eyes were wild.
V
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.
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan.
VI
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.
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A fairy’s song.
VII
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said-
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said-
VIII
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 wept, and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
IX
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dreamed-- Ah! Woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dreamed
On the cold hillside.
And there I dreamed-
On the cold hillside.
X
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!”
Pale warriors, death-
XI
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.
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
XII
And this why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Through the sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Alone and palely loitering,
Through the sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Near Loch Ba, Scotland
Near Loch Ba, Scotland
