The poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci is one of the most romantic creations of the poet John Keats. The poem is a natural expression of his broken soul. John Keats was left by his sweetheart Fanny Browne and this failure at the emotional front, his inability to consummate his profound love for the woman of his life drove him to heights of emotional and creative outbursts like this. This poem has to be the natural vent of his feelings after he was left by the woman he loved. In this poem the poet has described the woman to be a mythical creature who entices men with her bewitching looks, provides them with the vicarious thrill of being fondled and loved and then tip toes away from his domain forever leaving them incredulously in despair and distress. The poem is set is a wintry and withered landscape in order to sketch the emotional psyche of the theme. The landscape denotes hopelessness and sadness. The wintry landscape is a perfect frame for a haggard and wandering soul lost in the web of questions about his inconsequential love. The wandering soul was at the receiving end for being hopelessly in love and loving his lady unconditionally. The haggard soul of the poet finds a characterization in that of a wandering knight brave, noble and of great virtues. The knight loved a woman unconditionally but she left him in deep anguish and great pain. He is left pale sapped of his vitality and relentlessly inquisitive about his mistake in his own short comings in his love for her.
The first stanza the poet sets the picture for the poem. He describes a winter landscape devoid of happiness, vegetation and rejuvenating twittering of birds. A pale and haggard handsome knight loiters in the place like a lost soul. The poet tries to bring out the reason behind his sorrowful state by asking him several questions about his aimless ramblings in such a time when no soul wanders outside due to the extreme cold and chill. The knight has been described as having a forehead bearing a lily with feverish dew. Lily has been used as a metaphor to explicate the fact that his forehead was beaded with perspiration due to deep anguish and pain. His cheeks bore a crimson tinge which was fast fading away due to the fact that he was continuously being eaten from inside by his pain and suffering. In the last two stanzas the knight at arms reiterates the reason behind his pathetic state. He recounts his experiences with an ethereal beauty. A lady so pretty that it she was too good to be mortal. Her beauty enraptured his senses and left him paralysed. She had wild amorous eyes, wild untamed hair and she was as pure as manna from heaven. She had captivated his senses and stole his heart. The knight lost in his new found infatuation for this beauty showered her with gifts of his love. Day in and day out he fell for her so badly that nothing on earth could bring him come out of this abyss of blind love he was by and by falling into so comfortably. She promised of love and commitment and fed him the sweetest of manna and relishing things. She took him to her elfin grot and cried in order to gain his sympathy and love. The knight was trapped in a bad web of love. He felt as if he had won his lady love and their love would be eternal. Unfortunately as things took a different turn the dream in his sleep was actually his jerk into reality. The wailing and pale knights who warned him of his impending bad fate symbolizes his sheer misfortune when the lady he loved so profoundly in a clandestine move apathetically left him in the lurch to rot. He had expectations of a life long relationship but she set fire to all his dreams and left him reeling in deep depression and sadness.The knight was to have the same fate as the knights who had wide gaping mouths and were wailing. The dream turned out to be true and as he awoke from his nightmare he found him self badly jerked into reality as he lay abandoned in the cold hillside left to an imminent self immolation of his soul.
Fanny Brown episode had a deep impact on the poet's soul.Pain does bear creativity and this is very prominent in all the creations of Keats. He died young to live in our minds forever.
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