La Belle Dame Sand Merci
27th October 2005 Emilienne Agius La Bella Dame Sans Merci 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' was written by John Keats in the Romanticism Period in around 1821. Keats died of tuberculosis in 1821 at a young age. Romantic poets wrote their poems mostly about childhood, individuality, nature but mostly about their feelings. The title of this poem, when translated from its original French language, means the beautiful woman without mercy, and the lady was exactly that - without mercy because she made the knight fall in love with her by seducing him, then abandoning him. She belongs to the group of mythical creatures called the 'femme fatales'. In 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', Keats uses simple, archaic language. It is a balled and therefore a narrative poem. There are various narrative levels that make it more difficult to the reader to understand he meaning of the poem. Keats provides minimal details about the characters and makes no judgements. Some details are realistic, others strange. As a result, the poem creates a sense of mystery and fantasy. In fact it is a poem full of fantasy and mystery with many questions and few answers. In fact, throughout the poem, dream and reality keep intertwining as if the are one so an unclear picture is given as there is the possibility of it all being a dream. The poem starts with a question. ' O what can ail thee, Knight-at-arms' asks the