Reading Responses to a Poem - Assignment Example

Response to La belle dame sans merci is a poem written by John Keats (1819). Introduction La belle dame sans merci is a poem written by John Keats (1819). The poem is about a knight who is found by a man sitting alone. The man wonders the reason behind the knight loneness. The knight continues to tell the man of how he met a very pretty girl who he fell in love with. The knight spent his day with the lady who brought him to her place for a meal. The two fell asleep after the meal. The knight had a dream that was a nightmare since he dreamt of the girls’ past lovers.

The past lovers were scary and appeared as ghost in his dream. They warned the knight of being tricked by the girl he fell in love with - a belle dame sans merci- the pretty, heartless girl (English, 2011). The following paper is a response to "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" by John Keats. It explains the elements in the poem that are interesting or engaging.There are four major elements that can be discovered in this poem. They make it interesting and captivating. These include a theme of love, imagery, points of view and tone.

Use of imageries is very strong in the poem. The diction has a deep literal meaning that the whole poem paints a mental picture. In stanza 4, the poet writes, “I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful- a faery’s child,” which creates a mental picture of the extent of beauty of the lady (Enotes, 2011). This is mainly because of the use of a “faery’s child” which implies that the lady was very beautiful. This image portrayed is vital to an extent that the speaker is tricked into a trap by the lady.

The tenth stanza has also an imagery which makes the poem interesting. This comes about as the ghosts of the lady’s past lovers caution the speaker of being duped, this last image is important since it connects the whole poem to the being state of the knight being alone.A theme of love used in this poem makes it quite captivating too (Melani, 2010). This is because love is a universal topic which the poet wisely chose since it connects with almost all of poem readers. In “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”, Keats elegantly portrays love as being imperfect at times.

This is because of the misfortunes that the knight encounters after he falls in love with a lady who is alleged to be performing tricks to her lovers’ disadvantage.Tone is conveniently used in this poem. The dreamlike tone in the poem brings out a surreal environment. The poet then shift to a loving tone with his attitude in the 5th stanza. This is when he gives the lady some flowers and goes for a walk with her. The tenth stanza changes the tone to a nightmarish attitude where he realizes the regrettable change of events into the worst.

Last but not least, this poem employs points of view or speaker in its content. This poem is narrative. This is complimented by presence of a set speaker. The speaker shift to the knight who is previously described as pale and feverish. The knight explains his aloness by a story of his encounter with a girl who he fell in love with.ConclusionThe above poem has been written by an excellent poet. The poem appeals to human emotions. It has an interesting classical language. This poem is quite enjoyable to read due to the poet’s ability to use different elements of a good poem.

ReferencesEnglish. (2011). La belle dame sans merci. Retrieved on July 25, 2011 from http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/labelledamesansmerci.htmlEnotes. (2011). La belle dame sans merci: summary. Retrieved on July 25, 2011 from http://www.enotes.com/la-belle-dame-sans-meri/summaryMelani, L. (2010, September 27). The significance of la belle dame sans merci. Retrieved on July 25, 2011 from http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/belle.html#sig