The poem titled “La Belle Dame sans Merci” written by John Keats follows the story of a knight who is “loitering” in an unwelcoming area.
The knight is questioned on his “haggard” appearance and responds that he met a beautiful woman in the meadows, and misses her terribly. Keat’s uses visual imagery to describe how the plants have “withered” and that the “squirell’s granary is full” which implies that winter is approaching. His vivid descriptions of the landscape he supposedly met the woman in starkly contrast the barren descriptions of his reality, and this suggests that his story is a fantasy.
The knight recalls how the woman, a “faery’s child,” fed him “manna-dew,” and brought him to her “Elfin” cave. These fanciful descriptions further highlight how the knight’s fantasy world is different from his reality. In his imagination, the knight is in a vibrant environment, being fed delicacies, while in reality, he is “pale” and miserable. Additionally, Keats alluding to manna, which is a supernaturally nutritious substance provided by God to the Israelites on their journey out of Egypt, suggests that the Knight is completely dependant on the Lady for his survival.
Additionally, Keats also uses meter to further emphasize the concept of imagination and reality. Each stanza has four lines, and within each stanza, the first three lines all have eight syllables each. The last line has around four or five. The last line having less syllables than the others is almost representative of the Knight drawing back to the harsh reality after getting lost in an imaginative story. The structure of the entire poem mirrors this effect, the last stanza reels the Knight back to the real world. The last stanza is similar to the first stanza, however, instead of being questioned, the knight is the one speaking. He acknowledges his reality and explains how the lady’s abrupt disappearance (from his mind) is the reason he “sojourns” by the lake, “alone and paleley loitering.” However, despite the Knight himself understanding it was a dream and that the woman will not return, his fantasy has consumed him, blurring the lines between his imagination and his reality.
