La Belle Dame Sans Merci: AHSEC Class 12 Alternative English

Share with others

Get here the summary, questions, answers, textbook solutions, extras, and pdf of the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats of the Assam Board (AHSEC / SEBA) Class 12 Alternative English (Vibgyor) textbook. However, the given notes/solutions should only be used for references and should be modified/changed according to needs.

la belle dame sans merci AHSEC Class 12

Summary: The poem depicts the anguish felt by a person who is loved but not reciprocated. One day, the speaker came across a knight at a distance, seemingly dying in the middle of nowhere. The sedge has dried up, and the knight appears depleted both mentally and physically in this arid setting. He is enchanted by the beauty of the woman he encounters in the wilderness in the poem. A hair garland and bracelets he makes for her amplify her natural scent. 

When he pays her a loving tribute, she responds by sending signals that she likes him. With his heart set on his newfound love, the knight mounts his horse and rides after her all day. Sweet roots and delicious food are just some of the ways she shows her love for him. In the end, she took him to an underground grotto, a magical place. 

After a brief moment, the lady bursts into tears, which the knight tries to soothe with kisses. After that, she soothes him to sleep. He is alerted, however, when the knight dreams of white-robed monarchs warning him that the beautiful lady he has fallen in love with has no regard for his plight or mercy for him. When the knight wakes up, he is on a chilly hillside in the middle of the night. As a result of the pain of unrequited love, he’s left to wander aimlessly. 

The knight has come to terms with the fact that he has lost the love of the beautiful figure who now stalks and plagues his life and the world in which he now dwells. He longs for an unbreakable bond that transcends life and death, a love that will endure forever.

Answer the following questions in one or two words.

1. Which season is the poem set in? 

Answer: The poem takes place in late autumn.

2. Who is being addressed at the beginning of the poem? 

Answer: The poem begins with an address to a pale, dishevelled knight.

3. Where did the knight meet the lady? 

Answer: The knight met the lady in the meadows.

4. In which year was the poem composed? 

Answer: It was written in 1819.

5. What words did the lady utter? 

Answer: “I love thee true,” she said to him.

Answer the following questions

1. What did the knight make for the lady? 

Answer: The knight fashioned a hair garland and a perfume-enhancing bracelet for her.

2. What did the lady give him in return? 

Answer: In return, as a token of her affection, the lady gave him delectable roots, wild honey, and other delicacies.

3. What did the lady do in her cave? 

Answer: In her cave, the lady’s delicate fleeting feelings suddenly burst forth in tears. Then she lulled him to sleep.

4. Who did the knight see in his dream? 

Answer: The knight had a vision of pale-faced kings and princes falling victim to the beautiful lady in his sleep. Those around him warn him that the beautiful lady has enslaved him.

5. What was the lady known as?

Answer: The lady was referred to as the beautiful lady without merci.

Answer the following questions in your own words.

1. What are the signs that show us that the knight is suffering? 

Answer: An captivated knight found himself misled by an attractive woman he met in the meadows. Sorrow and desolation filled the knight’s eyes. The knight appears physically and emotionally drained in this parched situation. He appears to be worn out and exhausted. The knight is ill, and he is also depressed over it. The lily on the brow of the knight symbolises that his face is as pale as a lily. The sweat dripping down the knight’s brow is evidence of his agony and fever. As he wakes up on the hillside, the death-like chill of his dream continues to reverberate through him. He lingered in the shadows, his face flushed with fear. He remained alone in the desolate surroundings, mourning the loss of the love of a beautiful lady who now haunts and blights his existence and the world in which he finds himself. Using all of these signs, we can conclude that the knight is in pain.

2. Give a description of the lady.

Answer: “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is a fairy-like lady depicted in the poem. Her beautiful movement, enticing long hair, and vibrant appearance are clearly visible in her crazy eyes. It is clear from her gentle sighing when the knight approaches that she has fallen in love with him. She gathers and serves the knight lovely roots and delectable food as a way to show her affection for him and convey her devotion. When she led him to a grotto, a type of enchanted environment, her feelings for him shifted. She bursts into tears because of the ephemeral nature of her sentiments. Afterward, she hypnotises the knight and enslaves him to her. There were many pallid kings and princes and warriors enslaved by the lady, as per the knight’s dream. Even her language, which the knight could not understand, was unusual. The lady is, in fact, an evil disguised as a woman. Using her beauty and sensuality, she first seduces the knight, and then she deserts him.

3. Describe the dream of the knight.

Answer: In the meadows, a beautiful woman caught the eye of the knight. She put him to sleep by taking him to a grot. As for that, it was all in the mind of the knight. In his vision, he saw pale, starving kings, princes, and knights. There had been no mercy shown to the beautiful lady who enslaved him. Before she met the knight, they were also victims of the lady. It was she who enslaved them with her seductive beauty and sensuality.

Give suitable answers to the following

1. Why was the knight loitering about? 

Answer: A beautiful fairy-like lady had enslaved the knight, and he was wandering aimlessly. Infatuated by the lady’s beauty, the knight fell head over heels in love. His attention was drawn to her exquisite movement, attractive long hair, energetic appearance, and crazy eyes. Also, he was accepted into the lady’s heart, and the two went to see a grotto. In the place where she put him to bed. There were prior victims of the lady’s spell who warned him in his dreams that he had been charmed without compassion. The lady vanished, leaving him to wander aimlessly in the midst of his heartbreak. The knight’s experience with the woman forced him to remain desolated on this planet.

2. In your own words, describe the experience of the knight. 

Answer: In the meadows, the knight came across a beautiful woman resembling a fairy. He was smitten by her because of her stunning appearance. To enhance her natural scent, he created a garland for her hair and bracelets for her wrists. That experience with the fairy lady had him completely preoccupied, and nothing else seemed to matter to him. It wasn’t long before the lady walked away from him, leaving him to sit around the lake all alone. Her soothing voice put him to sleep, but when he woke up, she had vanished and he was left to wander aimlessly around the streets in the midst of his heartbreak. According to the knight’s vision, a long line of pallid kings, princes, and warriors fell prey to the lady’s charms. The knight awoke on the deathly cold hillside of his nightmare. He felt isolated and utterly devoid. The woman’s encounter with him left him feeling isolated in a desolate location. Because of his loss of love, he believed that he had lost not only his life but the world around him as well.

Get notes of other classes or subjects

NBSESEBA/AHSEC
NCERTTBSE
WBBSE/WBCHSEICSE/ISC
BSEM/COHSEMQuestion papers
Custom Notes ServiceYouTube

Share with others

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *