La Belle Dam Sans Merci Essay - 1162 Words

The poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci by John Keats is a ballad that expresses all of Keats philosophies of happiness and the ideal world while, at the same time, being an enchanting love story on a simpler level. The poem contains his pleasure thermometer which leads to Keats idea of happiness. The poem also contains Keats vision of an ideal world where nothing ends or dies. The poem begins with a narrator questioning a Knight at arms. The Knight is seen wandering around lifelessly and listlessly. Not only is he lifeless, but, around him, the whole forest is dying as well. The sedge has withered from the Lake/ And no birds sing! (Keats, p506 lines 3-4) The Knight is feverish, a word Keats uses to depict starvation and intense†¦show more content†¦Keats wrote in a letter to George Keats that he was delighted with Canto V in which Dante meets Paulo and Francesca. Keats tells George that he had a delightful dream that he was in Hell with those guilty of carnal sins. He is whirling around with all the sinners, as is the punishment in that area of Hell, with his lips pressed against those of a beautiful woman. He wrote that he was pressed against her it seemd for an age. (Kauvar122) Soon after this letter he wrote On a Dream and La Belle Dame Sans Merci. The inspiration for both poems, according to Kauvar, had a lot to do with Canto V. It is interesting that an experience that, in Dante, was supposed to be torture and was intended as a punishment for sinners is a delightful experience to Keats. The punishment is torture because is goes on forever. Paulo and Francesca are forever joined and endlessly whorled about; they have tired of each other, as they would have soon after their affair if they hadnt died. By being forced to commit the same act over and over again they no longer enjoy it, they abhor it. To Keats, however, being forced to constantly relive the intense experience of love forever and ever is a joy. This is what Keats ideal world is. Keats pleasure thermometer is easily revealed through an analysis of the Knights narrative. In the first three stanzas of his narrative, the KnightShow MoreRelated Consider La Belle Dame sans Merci and To Autumn by John Keats1345 Words   |  6 PagesConsider La Belle Dame sans Merci and To Autumn by John Keats John Keats was born in 1795 and died in 1821. He lived a short life as he suffered from tuberculosis, and died in his early twenties. Keats is one of the great Romantic poets of the early 19th century. Most of his poetry was crammed into the last few years of his life, which is why some of his poems relate death. He had a great love for nature, which was always included in his poetry in some way. He saw his mother and his brotherRead More Love in Poetry Essay3954 Words   |  16 PagesThere are numerous types of love, whether its physical, emotional or romantic love. I intend to expand upon and highlight the various ways in which love an loss is portrayed in 5 selected poems: John Clares First Love, John Keats La Belle Dame Sans Merci, Robert Browning My Last Duchess and Christina Rossettis two poems Birthday and Remember. All of the poets portray love the concept of love or loss or both in relation to some; they all attempt to capture and express the presenceRead MoreHow do the poets compare the theme of Love?3322 Words   |  14 PagesHow do the poets compare the theme of Love? In the poems â€Å"Sonnet 116† and â€Å"Sonnet 130† written by William Shakespeare, â€Å"La Belle Dams sans Merci: A Ballad† by John Keats, â€Å"My Last Duchess† by Robert Browning, â€Å"A Mother in a Refugee Camp† written by Chinua Achebe and â€Å"Valentine by Carol Ann Duffy, all have one main feature in common, they are about love. Albeit these poems are about love, they were written in different time periods, ranging from 1609 to 1993. I have decided to analyse these poem