John Keats - La Bella Dame san Merci: A Ballad lyrics

"O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge has wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing. "O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms! 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. And on thy cheeks a fading rose Fast withereth too." "I met a lady in the meads, Full beautiful – a fairy's child, Her hair was long, her foot was light, 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. "I set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long; For sidelong would she bend, and sing A faery's song. "She found me roots of relish sweet, 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 full sore; 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!, And there I dream'd – ah! woe betide! The latest dream I ever dream'd On the cold hill's side. "I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors, d**h-pale were they all: They cried, 'La belle Dame sans Merci Hath thee in thrall!' "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 here Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing."