O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

       Alone and palely loitering?

The sedge has withered from the lake,

       And no birds sing.

O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,

       So haggard and so woe-begone?

The squirrel’s granary is full,

       And the harvest’s done.

I see a lily on thy brow,

       With anguish moist and fever-dew,

And on thy cheeks a fading rose

       Fast withereth too.

I met a lady in the meads,

       Full beautiful—a faery’s child,

Her hair was long, her foot was light,

       And her eyes were wild.

I made a garland for her head,

       And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;

She looked at me as she did love,

       And made sweet moan

I set her on my pacing steed, 

       And nothing else saw all day long,

For sidelong would she bend, and sing

       A faery’s song.

She found me roots of relish sweet,

       And honey wild, and manna-dew,

And sure in language strange she said—

       ‘I love thee true’.

She took me to her Elfin grot,

       And there she wept and sighed full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

       With kisses four.

And there she lullèd me asleep,

       And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—

The latest dream I ever dreamt

       On the cold hill side.

I saw pale kings and princes too,

       Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;

They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci

Thee hath in thrall!’

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

       With horrid warning gapèd wide,

And I awoke and found me here,

       On the cold hill’s side.

And this is why I sojourn here,

       Alone and palely loitering,

Though the sedge is withered from the lake,

       And no birds sing.

1) The ballad is about a knight who feels lonely and depressed. He comes across a beautiful princess and

makes her a flower headpiece and bracelet. The also ride horses in the field together. After they both go back

to her cave that is also home to elves and likley other magical creatures. The Knight falls asleep and has nightmares

about princesses and princes who also feel the same loniliness that he did earlier that day. He then wakes up in the

hillside feeling the same loneliness he felt before, along with the same overall dim and mournful mood.

2)

-“She took me to her elfin grot” (Line 29)

This example of imagery describes the knight going to the princess’s “Elfin grot” which essentially means

a small cave with elves. This contributes to the literal meaning as this leads to the knights nightmare.

-“And I awoke and found me here, On the cold hill’s side”(Line 43)

This example if imagery is describing the night awaking on the hillside. This contributes to the literal meaning of the poem because the knight feels the same sadness and despair he felt the day before even after being with the princess

-“I set her on my pacing steed and saw nothing all day long” (Line 21)

This example of imagery describes the knight riding horses with the princess. This contributes to the literal meaning because this leads to the knight going back to the princesses home where he eventually falls asleep and becomes depressed again.

3)”I made a garland for her head”

This is an example of consonance because the repetition of R is repeated in garland, for and her. This is contributes to the literal meaning as it is about the knight trying to attract the princess since he feels lonely.

“And this is why I sojourn here”

This is an example if assonance because of the repetition of the vowel “I” in the middle or ends of words. This contributes to the literal meaning of the poem as it relates to the knight feeling the same sadness and despair he felt earlier the day before.

4)”And no birds sing”

This is an example of a metaphor as the birds singing are being compared to the overall mood being very depressing. If the birds were singing it would be another way of saying it was a happy mood. This contributes to the literal meaning as the knight still feels sadness even after being with the princess

“She looked at me as she did love”

This is an example of a simile as the way the princess looks at he knight is being compared to how she looks at something she loves while using the word “as”. This contributes to the literal meaning of the poem as the princess showing her affection leads to the knight going back to her grot with her

 “And this is why I sojourn here, alone and palely loitering”

This is an example of a paradox. This is because he was just with the princess so it doesn’t make sense how he can be with someone but still feel alone and isolated. It has more to do with his emotions of feeling disconnected with people rather than physically being alone. This contributes to the literal meaning of the poem as it describes how the night feels alone and depressed even after being with the princess.

5) The theme of the ballad is that shallow love does not truly solve feeling of loneliness and emptiness. I chose this theme because the even after the knight spent time with the princess, he still felt feeling of being isolated and disconnected from everyone. This is told indirectly when the knight wakes up on the same hill he was on initially after falling asleep in the grot. The sorrowful hill with no birds singing symbolizes the knights feelings of despair