La Belle Dame Sans Merci

Having read John Keats' poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci for the first time yesterday, I wish to share this beautiful poem and some of the lovely artworks inspired by it. John Keats was very popular with the Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti in particular. Rossetti himself insisted that Keats be included in the 'List of Immortals' of 1848. Throughout the various Pre-Raphaelite phases Keat's poem continued to be a source of inspiration with generations of painters.

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.

 This is an early pencil sketch by Rossetti, from April 1848 - a few months before the PRB was founded. The first of three sketches Rossetti would do for this poem, a watercolour of a similar composition was done in 1855 with Lizzie Siddal as the model. This sketch is just a little early for Lizzie to be the model, but I do think that the knight looks like Walter Deverell.
The unfinished sketch below is a later one, 1855, with Lizzie most probably as the model. Though unfinished, it is a beautiful work, and illustrates the 6th stanza which is written above the horse's head. (always nice to see Rossetti's handwriting) I am surprised that Rossetti never completed a full painting of La Belle Dame sans Merci, despite doing some sketches.

                                                             

Frank Cadogan Cowper 1926

I love this version by Frank Cadogan Cowper. He is often described as 'the last of the Pre-Raphaelites' because he carried on the Pre-Raphaelite style long after that kind of work had fallen out of favour with the public. It is very aesthetic in its composition; focusing mainly on the beautiful woman in the centre, with the sleeping knight lying rather comically in the foreground, the evening light glinting of his armor and the poppies, symbolic of sleep and death, are beginning to grow around him.  The woman is traditional Pre-Raphaelite, but  her dress I find unusual; rather Art Nouveau - the date of this painting is 1926, though an earlier version is 1905; these both would have been after the Art Nouveau period, which I think was influential of this painting.

Sir Frank Dicksee 1903

Ah! What a lovely painting! Frank Dicksee sure knows how to paint a really aesthetically pleasing work of art. The landscape, horse and woman are all beautiful. I especially like the details on the horse's reins and the overall glowing light. However, I do admit to finding the knight a little odd. Yes, he is wonderfully painted, but why is he standing in that position? It looks more like something from a religious subject. I think Dicksee is depicting, like Rossetti, stanza 6 where the woman is enchanting the knight with her singing, rather like the sirens... and he cannot look at anything else but her. 

John William Waterhouse is a favourite of mine, and this version of La Belle Dame Sans Merci is really lovely. This depiction I find a little darker than the others, for in the other paintings the woman is rather removed, but in Waterhouse's version we see the woman in the act of enchanting the knight and literally trapping him, with that lovely hair of hers... how I wish I had hair like that! The light of the woman's face and dress contrasted with the man in shadow makes the audience focus on her; she is the primary subject in the painting. Also, her dress is beautiful...The colour of it is divine!

So, I now feel inspired to read more of John Keats' poems, and I also fancy watching that film about Keats with the great Ben Whishaw in it - a good reason to watch any film I think! 

Best Wishes