  Ah! what can ail thee, wretched wight, Alone and palely loitering? The sedge is withered from the lake, And no birds sing. Ah! what can ail thee, wretched wight, 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 fairy’s child; Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild. I set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long; For sideways would she lean and sing A fairy’s song. AND NOTHING ELSE SAW ALL DAY LONG. 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 gazed and sighÈd deep, And there I shut her wild sad eyes— So kissed to sleep. And there we slumbered on the moss, And there I dreamed, ah! woe betide, The latest dream I ever dreamed, On the cold hill-side. I saw pale kings and princes too, Pale warriors—death-pale were they all; Who cried, ‘La Belle Dame Sans Mercy Hath thee in thrall!’ I saw their starved lips in the gloom, With horrid warning gapÈd wide; And I awoke, and found me here On the cold hill-side. And this is why I sojourn here, Alone and palely loitering: Though the sedge is withered from the lake, And no birds sing. J. Keats. |
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