Comparing La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Keats and Mariana

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Comparing La Belle Dame Sans Merci by Keats and Mariana

The two poems 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' and 'Mariana' have very

similar genres. They are both based on a Romantic theme. They are both

about unrequited love. In 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' it is about a

knight who falls in love with a woman and he thinks she loves him as

well until she puts a spell on him and he realises it is all a trick

and she doesn't care for him at all. It was written in 1819. In

'Mariana' it's about a woman (Mariana) and how she was engaged to

Angelo who jilted her when the ship carrying her dowry was lost at

sea. Now, still pining for Angelo, she lives in lonely seclusion in a

country house, the poem talks about her miserable life without her

lover.

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La Belle Dame Sans Merci is a ballad which means the language is

simple, bare and direct. The poem starts off with a kind of 'narrator'

for the first few paragraphs. He basically sets the scene. The

narrator describes the atmosphere as eerie, desolate and bleak. There

was no noise at all, it was very quiet-"and no birds sing." The second

paragraph is when the narrator first speaks to the knight. The season

is supposedly autumn/winter time. He asks the knight what's wrong with

him. The knight is describes to be "haggard" and look like he's been

'dragged through a hedge backwards.' His face is pale and he seems to

be sweating. The knight then starts to tell his tale.

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The knight uses simple language and explains that he meet a beautiful

girl dancing graceful...

... middle of paper ...

...three times, which is repetition and paleness is

related to the dead.

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The last paragraph is a near enough repeat of the first, with the

knight describing him on the hill by the lake, as this is where he

woke up after his dream. This means the poem has completed a full

circle, as has the knight. Everything links back to the beginning of

the poem, causing us to think has time stood still like us the knight

is unsure. Throughout the poem 'Keats' appeals to our senses. Keats

also uses repeated 'O' sounds in the poem like 'alone', 'long',

'moan', 'done' etc. Along with the 'O' sounds there is a lot of

alliteration such as 'hair was long, her foot was light.

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The poem Marinia

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