La Belle Dame Sans Merci

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  • Created by: bamba
  • Created on: 19-05-18 11:58
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  • "La Belle Dame sans Merci"
    • the cyclical nature of "alone and palely loitering" in the first and last stanzas suggests entrapment and being stuck in a loop
    • End stopped line of "no birds sing." emphasises silence. "no" exaggerates silence.
    • "Knight at arms" metaphor, flatteringly fantastical
    • her hair was long; her foot was light" caesura speeds up rhythm of poem, the tone changes from slow to excitable when he meets the girl
    • "Her eyes where wild." end stopped line allows readers to digest the connotations of 'wild' assumes she is wild and dangerous. vivid imagery adds to the idea of fantasy
    • "and bracelets too, and fragrance zone;" polysendoten
    • "faery" "manna-dew" "elfin grot" adds to theme of fantasy
    • "she took me to her elfin grot" 'took' shows lack of control from him and how she took control.
      • "lulled me asleep" makes him seem like a baby and helpless
    • "on the cold hill side" dramatic change from the "elfin grot" confusing for the reader. Like waking up from a dream.
    • "thee hath in thrall!" exclamation exaggerates sense of panic
    • "starved" "horrid" "warning" gives a semantic field of pain and danger
    • roman numerals after 1-12 mimics clock to show speed of time and how one day has passed from evening to morning
    • regular alternating iambic tetrameter makes the poem seem hypnotising
    • foreign title makes the poem mysterious and confusing
      • title being in french suggests romantic and seductive theme
    • "o what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,/ alone and palely loitering" assonance creates rhythm from offset immediately enforces ideas of time.

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