Apedia

Poem La Belle Dame Sans Ballad Beautiful Lady

La Belle Dame sans Merci is an 1819 ballad by John Keats that depicts a knight's fatal enthrallment by a beautiful, enigmatic lady, exploring themes of love and death.

La Belle Dame sans Merci este o baladă din 1819 de John Keats, care prezintă un cavaler captivat de o doamnă misterioasă și fermecătoare, explorând temele iubirii și morții.

Front La Belle Dame Sans Merci
Back A ballad
1819
A Knight's fatal enthralment by a Beautiful lady who appears partly as a witch and partly as some 'fairy' s child'

La Belle Dame sans Merci" ("The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy") is a ballad produced by the English poet John Keats in 1819. The title was derived from the title of a 15th-century poem by Alain Chartier called La Belle Dame sans Mercy.[1]

Considered an English classic, the poem is an example of Keats' poetic preoccupation with love and death.[2] The poem is about a fairy who condemns a knight to an unpleasant fate after she seduces him with her eyes and singing. The fairy inspired several artists to paint images that became early examples of 19th-century femme fatale iconography.[3] The poem continues to be referenced in many works of literature, music, art, and film.

Learn with these flashcards. Click next, previous, or up to navigate to more flashcards for this subject.

Next card: Anna lady anthony duty trollope marries daniel leave

Previous card: L'allegro poem pastoral cheerful man celebration mirth john

Up to card list: Wordsworth companion to literature by Bahman Moradi