La belle dame sans merci

Lyrics

Oh what can ail thee, knight-at-arms Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has withered from the lake And no birds sing Oh 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 lulled 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 Hath thee in thrall!' I saw their starved lips in the gloam With horrid warning gaped wide And I awoke and found me here On the cold hill's side And that is why I sojourn here Alone and palely loitering Though sedge is withered from the lake And no birds sing