O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither'd from the lake,
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel's granary is full,
With anguish moist and fever dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery's child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She look'd at me as she did love,
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh'd full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
And there she lulled me asleep.
And there I dream'd—Ah! woe betide
The latest dream I ever dream'd
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—"La Belle Dame sans Merci
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
And is this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,