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O what can
ail thee, knight-at-arms, Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake, And no birds
sing. O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms! So
haggard and so woebegone? 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 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
has withered from the lake, And no birds sing."
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