The 1884 poem La Belle Dame Sans Merci was written by John Keats. Many people have interpreted this poem and many,completely different interpretations have been explained. Lots of people believe the theme of this poem is idealised love, others think that La Belle is John Keats muse and he is writing about his loss of inspiration so he has created a knight in the poem to take his place. Other interpretations include femme fatale or death. I believe the theme of this poem is disease. One significant detail in this poem is the Knights physical symptoms. In stanza one the knight is first described as “alone and palely loitering.” This line is used many times in the poem and gives us the first indication that something isn’t right. This line suggests that the Knight is sick and left by himself. In stanza two, the Knight is asked by a third speaker why he looks so “haggard and woe-begone.” Haggard and miserable, meaning sorrowful and miserable, then implies that the Knight has suffered a great loss, or has been suffering a great deal and now is warn out and tired. Stanza three then continuous on as the third speaker comments “I see a lily on thy brow, with anguish moist and fever dew. And on thy cheeks a fading rose, fast withereth too.” This stanza indicates that the man is dying. Because a lily is mentioned we know he is dying because “a lily on thy brow” symbolises death and “on thy cheeks a fading rose fast withereth too,” tells us that he is paler in a more gentle way. It shows us, rather then tells us that he has had colour drained from his face and he is deathly looking. Lastly, in stanza 12 the line “alone and palely loitering,” is repeated, meaning that nothing has changed for the knoght at the end of the poem and he is still as sickly looking as before. I believe the theme of this poem is disease, or more specifically Tuberculosis. While reading this poem it made alot of sense to me that La Bella Dame Sans Merci, is instead John Keats’s interpretation of...