La Belle Dame sans Merci

Question

John Keats

'O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.

'O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,5
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;10
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,15
And her eyes were wild.

'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.20

'I set her on my pacing steed
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sideways would she lean, and sing
A faery's song.

'She found me roots of relish sweet,25
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 sigh'd fill sore;30
And there I shut her wild, wild eyes
With kisses four.

'And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dream'd—Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream'd35
On the cold hill's 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!"40

'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 here45
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.'

"I set her on my pacing steed / And nothing else saw all day long." "And there she lullèd me asleep, / And there I dream'd—Ah! woe betide!" "I saw pale kings and princes too, / Pale warriors, death-pale were they all." Which epic theme is evident in these lines? Responses A the marriage between hero and heroinethe marriage between hero and heroine B the victory of the hero over all other warriorsthe victory of the hero over all other warriors C the hero's temptation to become distracted from his questthe hero's temptation to become distracted from his quest D the hero's commitment to put love before all other commitmentsthe hero's commitment to put love before all other commitments

Answer 1

The lines you've quoted from John Keats' "La Belle Dame sans Merci" exemplify C: the hero's temptation to become distracted from his quest.

In the poem, the knight-at-arms experiences a profound distraction due to his enchantment with the beautiful lady. His focus shifts from his noble duties to the allure of love and desire, leading to his eventual downfall and melancholy as he becomes entrapped in her enchanting world. The references to dreaming and the appearance of pale kings and warriors signal the consequences of this distraction and the loss of his former purpose.