John Keats           La Belle Dame Sans Merci                             Ballad I. O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms,     Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither'd from the lake,     And no birds sing. II. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!     So haggard and so woe-begone? 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. IV. 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. V. I made a garland for her head,     And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; She look'd 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 faery's song. VII. She found me roots of relish sweet,     And honey wild, and manna dew, And sure in language strange she said-     "I love thee true." VIII. She took me to her elfin grot,     And there she wept, and sigh'd fill sore, And there I shut her wild wild eyes     With kisses four. IX. And there she lulled me asleep,     And there I dream'd-Ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dream'd     On the cold hill's side. 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!" 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. XII. And this is why I sojourn here,     Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,     And no birds sing. 1819