Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing. Oh 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 cheek a fading rose
Fast withereth too. I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful--a faery'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 looked 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 sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild eyes
With kisses four. And there she lulled me asleep
And there I dreamed--ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dreamed
On the cold hill's side. I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-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 gaped 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 withered from the lake,
And no birds sing. (John Keats)