La Belle Dame sans Merci Questions and Answers
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What season is the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci" set in?
John Keats's poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci" provides plenty of hints about the season in which it is set. In the first stanza, we read that "The sedge has withered from the lake." Sedge is a type...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
How is "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" a romantic poem?
The poem "La Belle Sans Merci" can be considered a romantic poem because of the fleeting love between the fairy lady and the knight. The poem ends tragically, with the knight losing the love of the...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the central idea of "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
I would argue that the central idea of John Keat's poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is the difference between appearance and reality and the consequences of mixing them up. The knight meets a fair...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Why was the knight loitering about in the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci"?
In this poem, perhaps one of the most well-known of Keats' shorter works, we see a story of a knight who has fallen in love with a mysterious woman in the wilderness. The concept of "loitering" in...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Describe the knight's meeting with the lady in "La Belle Dame sans Merci."
The knight's encounter with the lady in "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is such an utterly blissful experience that it makes it all the more difficult for him to get over his subsequent heartbreak. On...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
How does the Knight describe the beauty of the lady in "La Belle Dame sans Merci"?
There is very little description of the lady in "La Belle Dame sans Merci." Keats's depiction of her is deliberately impressionistic, allowing the reader to imagine the details of her face and...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
In "La Belle Dame sans Merci", what is the significance of the knight's dream regarding the knight's fate in the poem?
In Keats's poem, the dream may have multiple meanings, especially in terms of the knight's fate. First, there are class implications. The other men he dreams of share similar elevated positions in...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the significance of the "elfin grot" and "manna dew" in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
These details serve to emphasize the supernatural elements of the poem. More than that, they are details that put the knight in a particular relationship with the fairy. There is a tradition that...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
How does the setting emphasize the knight’s dilemma?
The landscape in which the knight-at-arms is depicted at the beginning and, for that matter, the end of "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is lifeless and sterile. The sedge has withered from the lake,...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
In the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," what is the lady like that the knight meets?
The lady is the bane of any man who crosses her path: the apotheosis of the "femme fatale" who leads men to their ruin. But then, this is no ordinary woman; she is a "faery's child," an indication...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Why might Keats have chosen a French title for the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci"?
Although he was an English poet, John Keats chose a French title for his poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," written in 1819. This is because the poem is an allusion to much earlier French works. One...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Write a critical appreciation for the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats.
Keats wrote the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" about a knight that has been taken in by the love of a "capricious" fairy. His love is full and true, but the fairy is not interested in this and...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
In "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," what attracts the knight to the lady?
It is clear that from the beginning enchantment or some form of magic is at the heart of the attraction that the strange lady is able to provoke in the Knight who is left the worse for ever meeting...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the literary devices used in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats?
The main device used throughout the poem is repetition, which is characteristic of the traditional form the poem takes: the ballad. Ballads pertain to the oral tradition and are designed to be told...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Which season is the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci" set in? How do you know?
There are various clues in the poem which suggest what season of the year it is when the events of the poem take place. For example, early in the poem, it is mentioned that the "sedge"—a sort of...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
In "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," how was the knight deceived by the lovely lady?
The key word in the question is "lovely." The knight has been utterly bewitched by the fairy's enchanting beauty, so much so that he seems on the very edge of death. The fairy's magical kisses...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the signs that show us that the knight is suffering in "La Belle Dame sans Merci"?
In answering this question, we need look no further than the first line. The speaker asks the knight "What can ail thee?", which is an old-fashioned way of asking what's wrong with him. Such a...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Why does the fairy lady cry in her cave in "La Belle Dame sans Merci"?
The lady's tears are all part of the act. This beguiling fairy queen lures unsuspecting men into her elfin grotto—where she seduces and abandons them. And one of the reasons why she's so successful...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Describe "La Belle Dame sans Merci" as a successful ballad.
In order to define "La Belle Dame sans Merci" as a ballad, we must first explore what a ballad is. There are many definitions out there (some of them getting quite specific), but a good, general...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the significance of the role of the other characters in this poem, for example, the pale kings, princes and...
The descriptions of the pale figures in Stanza 10 of this poem are images that help explain what the knight saw when the lady of the title brought him to her dwelling. The poem hints that she is of...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Compare and contrast Keats' "La Belle Dame sans Merci" with Tennyson's "The Lady of Shalott."
Both poems are considered "Romantic" and are similar in several ways. Both have a medieval setting and concern unrequited love. Both create a mysterious and almost otherworldly atmosphere,...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the features of Romanticism in John Keats's "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
John Keats's "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is often considered a prototypical poem of the Romantic movement. Its features both conform to and set a pattern for a certain type of Romantic lyric poem In...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the warning that the knight receives in his dream?
In his dream, the knight sees "pale [dead] warriors" who tell him that the belle dame, or beautiful woman, has him in her "thrall." In other words, he is in her power. Before the dream, he had met...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
la belle dame sans merci how did the lady showed that she loved the knight
It is clear that the mysterious lady gave every appearance of loving the knight through her body langauge and what she said, if you can consider the "sweet moan" to be language. However, as #2...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Please comment on reality vs. imagination in "La Belle Dame sans Merci."
These are two very interesting opposites to consider when thinking about this enchanting poem. I suppose one way of thinking about what happens in this poem is that it could be viewed as an...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What did the knight see in the cave?
The pale, weakened knight tells the tale of his meeting a beautiful lady in a meadow. He spent the whole day with her, making her jewelry of flowers, and she told him that she loved him. While they...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Is "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" a successful ballad?
A "ballad" is defined as a "relatively short narrative poem, written to be sung" or recited. Is "La Belle Dame sans Merci" a ballad? Literary critics note that Keats imitates the form of a folk...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the signs in Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci" that shows us the knight is suffering?
At the very beginning of the poem the speaker asks the knight what ails him. In other words, he wants to know what the matter is. This would indicate that there's something about the knight's...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
How is the theme of unrequited love brought out in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
Clearly, in answering this question, you need to refer to the presentation of the knight in this poem, and in particular how he feels after being left alone by the mysterious lady that gave him...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Analyze the knight's dominance in "La Belle Dame sans Merci."
In "La Belle Dame sans Merci," the knight finds that his presumed dominance is exploited by a beautiful lady who leaves him helplessly captivated by her departure. When the knight first encounters...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Compare and contrast "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by Keats and "The Lady of Shalott" by Tennyson.
There are many points of comparison and contrast between "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats and "The Lady of Shallot" (one of my favorites) by Alfred Tennyson. These points are in structure,...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the similarities and differences between "La Belle Dame sans Merci" and "Lord Randall?"
Keats’s poem is similar to "Lord Randall" in terms of overall poetic style. The poem consciously imitates the form of a folk ballad, of which "Lord Randall" is a well-known example. Ballads were...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the elements of romanticism and English tradition of chivalry reflected in the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
"La Belle Dame sans Merci" clearly exemplifies elements of Romanticism and the English tradition of chivalry: ROMANTICISM There is a dreamlike, visionary quality to the poem The sympathy of nature...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the summary of "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
According to the speaker, everything looks more dreary now that it is autumn and the harvest is complete. The speaker describes the knight as pale and tired, almost to the point of being...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
In La Belle Dame sand Merci, who is speaking in Stanzas I- III?
There are two opinions on the construction of La Belle Dame sans Merci by John Keats. The first is that there is an unidentified observer speaking to a knight lying on a hillside; but this view...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Why does the beautiful lady leave the knight at the cave?
The narrator happens upon a knight in a field, all alone and weak; he is, apparently, dying as "on [his] cheeks a fading rose / Fast withereth." The knight explains that he met a beautiful lady,...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Why does the last stanza in "La Belle Dame sans Merci" echo the first? What is the effect of that?
The first three stanzas consist of an extended request to know what's happened to the knight, why he's all alone and "palely loitering" by the withered lake. Clearly there's something up with him,...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the main idea of "La Belle Dame sans Merci" by Keats?
There have been many interpretations of this poem. Mine is that the beautiful and cruel woman of the ballad is a personification of nature. It is easy to fall in love with nature, but in the end...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Where did the narrator meet the "knight-at-arms"?
The speaker of the poem meets the knight-at-arms standing by a lake. It's a pretty depressing scene. The sedge—a grass-like plant that grows near water—has withered, and no birds sing. The poor old...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
In which season does Keats set the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci"?
In the 1819 ballad "La Belle Dame sans Merci" (the beautiful lady without mercy), John Keats does not say explicitly what season it is set. However, there are several lines that provide clear...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Compare how the poets present power in “My Last Duchess” and “La Belle Dame sans Merci.”
Each of the poems presents a man who is obsessed with a woman. In John Keats’s poem, the primary character, a forlorn knight, describes himself as helpless in the face of the woman’s charms: she...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Which features make calling "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" a ballad a problematic categorization?
The traditional ballad is a songlike poem that tells a story dealing with romance or adventure. The narrative is usually told in simple language with dramatic action, dialog, and repetition; often...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What's the significance of time in La Belle Dame sans Merci?
The speaker of the first three stanzas sees that the knight upon whom he happens is "haggard" and well past his prime, with "lily on [his] brow." Lilies are associated with death. The knight is, in...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What language in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" suggests the knight's dominance?
Language that suggests the knight's dominance can be found in the sixth stanza, where he tells the speaker that he set the lady upon his pacing steed. The lady didn't mount the knight's horse by...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What ideas of Romanticism are represented in "La Balle Dame Sans Merci"?
"La Belle Dame sans Merci" by John Keats exemplifies many of the typical features of Romantic poetry. First, it is written in the form of a traditional ballad, a literary genre that was frequently...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are some similarities and differences in the two poems "Annabel Lee" and "La Belle Dame sans Merci". Can you...
Similarities 1. Both poems are ballads. They contain a "sing-song" quality to them and they tell a story. 2. Because of the sing-song quality, both are pleasing to the ear 3. Both are stories of...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What is the style used in the ballad, "La Belle Dams sans Merci"?
Being a ballad, the style is a narrative, third person, story telling, lyrical method of retelling. It begins with an outsider's point of view about the knight and his experiences with the woman,...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the consequences of love as Keats describe them in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
John Keats's "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is a Romantic ballad that tells of the misfortune of a knight who falls in love with a maiden who is without mercy--"sans merci." Much like some ancient...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
Do you feel that the poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci" is a conflict between beauty and power? Give reasons for your...
In “La Belle Dame Sans Merci,” one of the ideas that Keats presents is that beauty gives power. The speaker encounters a woman, “a faery’s child,” and immediately falls in love with her. As he...
La Belle Dame sans Merci
What are the places where nature is used in the description and what it is being used to describe in "La Belle Dame...
You might want to examine how nature is used to reflect the emotional and psychological desolation of the knight as he is left "Alone and palely loitering." Note the way that the action of the poem...
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