K A Flagg - La Belle Dame sans Merci Lyrics

O what can ail thee knight at arms
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither'd from the lake
And no birds sing

O 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 cheeks 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 made a garland for her head
And bracelets too and fragrant zone;
She look'd 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 fairy'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 sigh'd full sore
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four

And there she lulled me asleep
And there I dream'd Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream'd
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 starv'd 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 wither'd from the lake
And no birds sing