La Belle Dame sans Merci - John Keats

Who is the speaker?

A person speaking to a sick knight, who fell in love with a fairy who left him

What is the form?

- Ballard (tells a story)

- Regular rhyme (singsong tone)

'palely loitering'

JUXTAPOSITION

- With the stereotypical image of a knight

- Seems purposeless

- Stuck in liminal space between life and death

'harvest's done'

END STOPPING

- Sense of finality

- Knight approaching end of life

JUXTAPOTITION

- Image of plenty in contrast with knight's decay

'a fading rose'

METAPHOR

- For the knight losing colour/dying

- Suggests life was once there but is gone

'her foot was light'

FORSHADOWING

- Her abandonment of him

- Not to be trusted

'my pacing steed'

- Increases pace/urgency

- Adds sense of desperation for her love

'roots of relish sweet'

'manna dew'

FORESHADOWING

- Of his death when using the term 'manna'

- Gives illusion of security/protection

- Knight cannot see past her beauty

'wild wild'

REPETITION

- Connotes danger

JUXTAPOSITION

- With her seemingly ethereal, calm presence

'cold hill side'

PATHETIC FALLACY

- Ominous tone

- Hidden from reality

'starved lips in the gloam'

PATHETIC FALLACY

- Points towards his death

- 'starved' connotes suffering and suggests lack of love

'And no birds sing'

CYCLICAL STRUCTURE, END STOPPING

- Unescapable

- Futile attempts of the knight to gain love

- Lack of life