La Belle Dame Sans Merci

SPeech is where you make speeches. “La Belle Dame sans Merci” In “La Belle Dame sans Merci,” John Keats’ stresses the idea that beauty is only skin deep and also lies in the eye of the beholder. Through the use of two speakers, Keats’ is able to portray his theme by means of a story. As the poem begins, the reader meets the first speaker. As we read on, we come to find out that this is a passer-by. We also find out the state of the other speaker, “wretched Wight.” Sounds so full of life. We also find out the setting. “The sedge is wither’d from the lake, /And no birds sing.” Again, the reader sees the lack of life in the setting. As the first speaker continues, he starts to interrogate the other man. “…what can ail thee…?” He describes the man as “a lily on thy brow, with anguish moist and fever dew.” This translated more than likely indicates that the man is sad. He has also lost the color in his cheeks by stating, “on thy cheek a fading rose.” Now, it is time for the other speaker to respond. His first remark is the route of his problem…”I met a lady.” Wow, cut, print, we have ourselves the beginning of the majority of problems men face. He has met a woman. He then starts to describe her as if in a trance “Full beautiful, a faery’s child.” The woman is made out to be a goddess. He furthers his description with “Her hair was long, her foot was light, /And her eyes were wild.” Through stating her attributes in past tense, the second speaker is relaying that she is no longer there. Now the second speaker (for the sake of understanding, we shall call him Sark), Sark is describing what they did together. “[Sark] set her on [his] pacing steed.” And she sat like a true lady and they were merry. She took him into “her elfin grot” and the laid together. She “look’d at [Sark] as she did love him.” By this saying, it can be presumed that she did not really love him, but only acted like it because of the gifts he was bestowing upon her. As he fell asleep, Sark had a dream.