La Belle Dame sans Merci

                              I. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,      Alone and palely loitering? The sedge is withered from the lake,      And no birds sing.                               II. 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.                               III. I see a lily on thy brow      With anguish moist and fever dew, And on thy cheek a fading rose      Fast withereth too.                               IV. 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.                               V. I made a garland for her head,      And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; She look'd at me as she did love,      And made sweet moan.                               VI. 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.                               VII. She found me roots of relish sweet,      And honey wild, and manna dew, And sure in language strange she said--      "I love thee true."                               VIII. She took me to her elfin grot,      And there she wept, and sigh'd fill sore, And there I shut her wild wild eyes      With kisses four.                               IX. And there she lulled me asleep,      And there I dream'd--Ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dream'd      On the cold hill's side.                               X. 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!"                               XI. 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.                               XII. And this is why I sojourn here,      Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,      And no birds sing.