{{For|the 15th-century poem by Alain Chartier|La Belle Dame sans Mercy}}

[[File:John William Waterhouse - La Belle Dame sans Merci (1893).jpg|thumb|[[John William Waterhouse]] – ''La belle dame sans merci'', 1893]]
[[File:Henry Meynell Rheam - La Belle Dame sans Merci.jpg|thumb|''La Belle Dame sans Merci'' by [[Henry Meynell Rheam]], 1901]]
[[File:Arthur Hugues - La belle dame sans merci.jpg|thumb|[[Arthur Hughes (artist)|Arthur Hughes]] – ''La belle dame sans merci'']]
[[File:Dicksee Frank, La Belle Dame Sans Mersi.jpg|thumb|[[Frank Dicksee]] – ''La belle dame sans merci'', c. 1901]]
[[File:La Belle Dame sans Merci - Punch cartoon - Project Gutenberg eText 19105.png|thumb|''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' magazine cartoon, 1920]]

"'''La Belle Dame sans Merci'''" ("The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy") is a [[ballad]] produced by the [[England|English]] poet [[John Keats]] in 1819. The title was derived from the title of a 15th-century poem by [[Alain Chartier]] called ''[[La Belle Dame sans Mercy]]''.<ref name="symons_2004_title" />

Considered an English classic, the poem is an example of Keats' poetic preoccupation with love and death.<ref name="everest_2002_lovedeath" /> The poem is about a [[fairy]] who condemns a knight to an unpleasant fate after she seduces him with her eyes and singing. The fairy inspired several artists to paint images that became early examples of 19th-century ''[[femme fatale]]'' iconography.<ref name="cooper_1986_fatale" /> The poem continues to be referenced in many works of literature, music, art, and film.

==Poem==
The poem is simple in structure with twelve [[stanza]]s of four lines each in an ABCB [[rhyme scheme]]. Below is both the original and revised version of the poem.:<ref name="keats_1905_selincourt" /><ref name="Oxford_English_Verse" />

{|
|-
! The original version, 1819  !!  !! The revised version, 1820
|-
| 
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,<br />
Alone and palely loitering?<br />
The sedge has withered from the lake,<br />
And no birds sing!<br /> 
<br />
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,<br />
So haggard and so woe-begone?<br />
The squirrel’s granary is full,<br />
And the harvest’s done.<br />
<br />
I see a lily on thy brow,<br />
With anguish moist and fever-dew,<br />
And on thy cheeks a fading rose<br />
Fast withereth too.<br />
<br />
I met a lady in the meads,<br />
Full beautiful, a fairy’s child;<br />
Her hair was long, her foot was light,<br />
And her eyes were wild.<br />
<br />
I made a garland for her head,<br />
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;<br />
She looked at me as she did love,<br />
And made sweet moan.<br />
<br />
I set her on my pacing steed,<br />
And nothing else saw all day long,<br />
For sidelong would she bend, and sing<br />
A faery’s song.<br />
<br />
She found me roots of relish sweet,<br />
And honey wild, and manna-dew,<br />
And sure in language strange she said—<br />
‘I love thee true’.<br />
<br />
She took me to her Elfin grot,<br />
And there she wept and sighed full sore,<br />
And there I shut her wild, wild eyes<br />
With kisses four.<br />
<br />
And there she lullèd me asleep,<br />
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—<br />
The latest dream I ever dreamt<br />
On the cold hill side.<br /> 
<br />
I saw pale kings and princes too,<br/> 
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;<br/> 
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci<br />
Hath thee in thrall!’<br />
<br />
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,<br />
With horrid warning gapèd wide,<br />
And I awoke and found me here,<br />
On the cold hill’s side.<br />
<br />
And this is why I sojourn here,<br />
Alone and palely loitering,<br />
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,<br />
And no birds sing.
 ||  || 
O what can ail thee, wretched wight,<br />
Alone and palely loitering?<br />
The sedge is wither'd from the lake,<br />
And no birds sing.<br />
<br />
Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,<br />
So haggard and so woe-begone?<br />
The squirrel’s granary is full,<br />
And the harvest’s done.<br />
<br />
I see a lily on thy brow,<br />
With anguish moist and fever-dew,<br />
And on thy cheek a fading rose<br />
Fast withereth too.<br />
<br />
I met a lady in the meads,<br />
Full beautiful, a faery’s child;<br />
Her hair was long, her foot was light,<br />
And her eyes were wild.<br />
<br />
I set her on my pacing steed,<br />
And nothing else saw all day long,<br />
For sideways would she lean, and sing<br />
A faery’s song.<br />
<br />
I made a garland for her head,<br />
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;<br />
She look'd at me as she did love,<br />
And made sweet moan.<br />
<br />
She found me roots of relish sweet,<br />
And honey wild, and manna dew,<br />
And sure in language strange she said.—<br />
I love thee true.<br />
<br />
She took me to her elfin grot,<br />
And there she gaz'd and sighed deep,<br />
And there I shut her wild sad eyes<br />
So kiss'd to sleep.<br />
<br />
And there we slumber'd on the moss,<br />
And there I dream'd, ah woe betide!—<br />
The latest dream I ever dream'd<br />
On the cold hill side.<br /> 
<br />
I saw pale kings, and princes too,<br/> 
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;<br/> 
Who cry'd—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci<br />
Hath thee in thrall!’<br />
<br />
I saw their starv'd lips in the gloam,<br />
With horrid warning gaped wide,<br />
And I awoke, and found me here,<br />
On the cold hill’s side.<br />
<br />
And this is why I sojourn here,<br />
Alone and palely loitering,<br />
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,<br />
And no birds sing.

|}

==Inspiration==
In 2019 literary scholars [[Richard Marggraf Turley]] and Jennifer Squire proposed that the ballad may have been inspired by the tomb effigy of [[Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel]] (d. 1376) in [[Chichester Cathedral]]. At the time of Keats' visit in 1819, the effigy stood mutilated and separated from that of Arundel's second wife, [[Eleanor of Lancaster]] (d. 1372), in the northern outer aisle. The figures were reunited and restored by Edward Richardson in 1843, and later inspired [[Philip Larkin]]'s 1956 poem "[[An Arundel Tomb]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Old sketches, maps and gothic effigies unlock secrets of John Keats's famous poem 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci' |publisher=Aberystwyth University |date=16 May 2019 |url=https://www.aber.ac.uk/en/news/archive/2019/05/title-223178-en.html?bblinkid=160156052&bbemailid=13965598&bbejrid=1065862831 |accessdate=25 December 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Richard |last=Marggraf Turley |author-link=Richard Marggraf Turley |title=How a stone knight inspired two very different visions of love from John Keats and Philip Larkin |publisher=The Conversation |date=16 July 2019 |url=https://theconversation.com/how-a-stone-knight-inspired-two-very-different-visions-of-love-from-john-keats-and-philip-larkin-120377 |accessdate=25 December 2019 }}</ref>

== In other media ==

=== Visual depictions ===
{{Commons category|La Belle Dame sans Merci}}
"La Belle Dame sans Merci" was a popular subject for the [[Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood]]. It was depicted by [[Frank Dicksee]],<ref name="dicksee_1890_painting" /> [[Frank Cadogan Cowper]], [[John William Waterhouse]],<ref name="waterhouse_1893_painting" /> [[Arthur Hughes (artist)|Arthur Hughes]],<ref name="hughes_18xx_painting" /> [[Walter Crane]],<ref name="crane_1865_painting" /> and Henry Maynell Rheam.<ref name="rheam_1901_painting" /> It was also satirized in the 1&nbsp;December 1920 edition of ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'' magazine.<ref name="punch_1920_drawing" />

=== Musical settings ===
Around 1910, [[Charles Villiers Stanford]] produced a musical setting for the poem. It is a dramatic interpretation requiring a skilled (male) vocalist and equally skilled accompanist.<ref name="stanford_1910_score" /> In the 21st century it remains popular and is included on many anthologies of English song or British Art Music recorded by famous artists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W6062|title=La belle dame sans merci - Hyperion Records - CDs, MP3 and Lossless downloads|website=www.hyperion-records.co.uk|access-date=2019-04-08}}</ref>

In 1935, [[Patrick Hadley]] wrote a version of the Stanford score for tenor, [[SATB|four-part chorus]], and orchestra.<ref name="hadley_1935_score" />

A setting of the poem, in German translation, appears on the 2009 music album ''Buch der Balladen'' by [[Faun (band)|Faun]].<ref name="faun_2009_balladen" />

A lyrical, mystical musical setting of this poem has been composed by [[Loreena McKennitt]], published in her 2018 CD ''Lost Souls''.<ref name="mckennitt_2018_lost" />

=== Film ===
The 1915 American film ''[[The Poet of the Peaks]]'' was based upon the poem.<ref name="reaves_1915_peaks" />

The 2009 stop-action animated fantasy film ''[[Coraline]]'' directed by Henry Selick refers to the malevolent Other Mother as "beldam". The film includes a similar theme of entrapment by a seemingly beautiful loving woman.<ref name="selick_2009_coraline" />

===Books ===
The poem is mentioned in the story entitled "The case of Three Gables" from the 1893 book ''[[The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes]]'' by Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]]. In it Holmes compares and matches the character sketch of Isadora Klein with La Belle Dame sans Merci.<ref name="doyle_1893_sherlock" />

In Agatha Christie's 1936 mystery novel ''[[Murder in Mesopotamia]]'', the plot is centered upon an unusual woman named Louise Leidner who is described multiple times as "a kind of Belle Dame sin Merci". One character describes her as possessing a "calamitous magic that plays the devil with things".<ref name="christie_2003_mesopotamia-cd" /><ref name="christie_1936_mesopotamia" />

[[Vladimir Nabokov]]'s books ''[[The Real Life of Sebastian Knight]]'' (1941), ''[[Lolita]]'' (1955) and ''[[Pale Fire]]'' (1962) allude to the poem.<!--books around 1950s, reference needed-->

The last two lines of the first verse ("The sedge has withered from the lake/And no birds sing") were used as an epigraph for [[Rachel Carson]]'s book ''[[Silent Spring]]'' (1962), about the environmental damage caused by the irresponsible use of pesticides.  The second line was repeated later in the book, as the title of a chapter about their specific effects on birds.<ref name="carson_2002_silentspring" />

The last two lines of the 11th verse are used as the title of a science fiction short story, "And I awoke and found me here on the cold hill's side" (1973) by [[James Tiptree, Jr.]].<ref name="tiptree_1973" />

[[Roger Zelazny]]'s ''Amber Chronicles'' refer to the poem in Chapter Five of ''The Courts of Chaos'' (1978) wherein the protagonist journeys to a land that resembles the poem.<ref name="zelazny_1978_chaos" />

[[John Kennedy Toole]]'s novel ''[[A Confederacy of Dunces]]'' (1980) alludes to the poem in initially describing the main character's home.<ref name="toole_1980_dunces" />

[[Farley Mowat]]'s 1980 memoir of his experiences in World War II is entitled ''And No Birds Sang''.<ref name="mowat_1979_birds" />

''[[Pale Kings and Princes]]'', a 1987 [[Spenser (character)|Spenser]] novel by [[Robert B. Parker]], takes its title from the poem.

The line is also featured in [[Philip Roth]]'s ''The Human Stain'' (2000) in reaction to Coleman describing his new, far younger love interest.<ref name="roth_2000_stain" />

In Chapter 32 of [[Kristine Smith]]'s novel ''Law Of Survival'' (2001) the protagonist, Jani, reveals her true hybrid eyes to the general public for the first time, then she asks another character, Niall, what she looks like.  Niall smiles and quotes a snippet of La Belle Dame sans Merci and gives Keats credit for his words.<ref name="smith_2001_survival" />

The Beldam in Neil Gaiman's 2002 horror-fantasy novel ''[[Coraline]]'' references the mysterious woman who is also known as Belle Dame. Both share many similarities as both lure their protagonists into their lair by showing their love towards them and giving them treats to enjoy. The protagonists in both stories also encounter the ghosts who have previously met both women and warn the protagonist about their true colours and at the end of the story, the protagonist is stuck in their lair, with the exception of Coraline who managed to escape while the unnamed knight in this poem is still stuck in the mysterious fairy's lair.<ref name="gaiman_2002_coraline" />

[[L. A. Meyer]]'s ''Bloody Jack'' series (2002-2014) features a take on La Belle Dame sans Merci, adapted to reflect the protagonists age. Mary "Jacky" Faber became known as "La belle jeune fille sans merci".<!-- reference needed-->

In ''Hunting Ground'' (2009) by [[Patricia Briggs]], La Belle Dame sans Merci is identified as The Lady of the Lake and is a hidden antagonist.<ref name="briggs_2009_hunting" />

[[David Foster Wallace]]'s 2011 novel ''[[The Pale King]]'' alludes to the poem in its title.<ref name="wallace_2011_king" />

[[Cassandra Clare]]'s 2016 collection of novellas ''[[Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy]]'' includes a novella titled Pale Kings and Princes, named after the line "I saw pale kings and princes too/Pale warriors, death-pale were they all". Three of the poem's stanzas are also excerpted in the story.<ref name="clare_2016_shadowhunter" />

The last two lines of the first verse ("The sedge has withered from the lake/And no birds sing") are used in the text of the 2019 Nebula award-winning science fiction story "This Is How You Lose The Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2019)<ref>"This Is How You Lose The Time War" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (Saga books, 2019)</ref>

===Television===
{{Expand section | date = November 2018}}

''[[Rosemary & Thyme]]'' - Season 1, Episode 1<ref name="rosemary_20030831" />

[[Californication (TV series)|''Californication'']] - Season 1, Episode 5<ref name="californ_20070910" />

''[[Downton Abbey]]'' - Season 6, Episode 5<ref name="abbey_20151018" />

''[[Victoria (UK TV series)|Victoria]]'' - Season 2, Episode 3<ref name="victoria_20170910" />

===Other===
In a March 2017 interview with ''[[The Quietus]]'' the English songwriter and musician [[John Lydon]] cited the poem as a favourite.<ref name="quietus_20170321_interview-fb" />

In the popular trading card game, ''Magic the Gathering'', the card 'Merieke Ri Berit' is modeled after this poem.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Merieke Ri Berit|url=https://mtg.gamepedia.com/Merieke_Ri_Berit|access-date=2020-06-12|website=MTG Wiki|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="symons_2004_title">{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/sym4int.htm
 |title        = La Belle Dame sans Mercy – Introduction
 |author       = Dana M. Symons
 |year         = 2004
 |work         = Chaucerian Dream Visions and Complaints
 |publisher    = Medieval Institute Publications
 |access-date  = 2018-11-30
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20180627144305/http://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/symons-chaucerian-dream-visions-and-complaints-la-belle-dame-sans-mercy-introduction
 |archive-date = 2018-06-27
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

<ref name="everest_2002_lovedeath">{{cite book
| last          = Everest
| first         = Kelvin
| author2       = British Council
| author2-link       = British Council
| date          = 2002
| title         = John Keats
| url           = https://books.google.com/books?id=9vZaAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA86
| publisher     = Northcote House
| isbn          = 9780746308073
| oclc          = 50526132
| page          = 86
}}</ref>

<ref name="quietus_20170321_interview-fb">{{cite AV media
| url           = https://www.facebook.com/TheQuietus/videos/1341715772538876/
| title         = The Quietus - John Lydon Official interview LIVE
| date          = 2017-03-21
| publisher     = Facebook
| language      = en
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="tiptree_1973">{{cite book
| title         = Ten thousand light-years from home
| url         = https://archive.org/details/tenthousandlight00tipt
| url-access    = registration
| chapter       = And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side
| last          = Tiptree
| first         = James Jr.
| date          = 1973
| publisher     = [[Ace Books]]
| location      = New York
| oclc          = 50687237
}}</ref>

<ref name="carson_2002_silentspring">{{cite book
| title         = [[Silent Spring]]
| last          = Carson
| first         = Rachel
| date          = 2002
| publisher     = [[Houghton Mifflin]]
| location      = Cambridge, Massachusetts
| author-link   = Rachel Carson
| oclc          = 806409808
| isbn          = 9780618249060 <!--Replace with ref to earlier version (ex:1962) if quote presence confirmed.-->
}}</ref>

<ref name="roth_2000_stain">{{cite book
| title         = [[The Human Stain]]
| last          = Roth
| first         = Philip
| date          = 2000
| publisher     = [[Houghton Mifflin]]
| author-link   = Philip Roth
| oclc          = 930877308
| page          = 27
}}</ref>

<ref name="gaiman_2002_coraline">{{cite book
| title         = Coraline
| last          = Gaiman
| first         = Neil
| date          = 2002
| location      = London
| publisher     = [[Bloomsbury Publishing]]
| author-link   = Neil Gaiman
| oclc          = 441090183
| isbn          = 9780747558781
}}</ref>

<ref name="clare_2016_shadowhunter">{{cite book
| title         = [[Tales From the Shadowhunter Academy]]
| last          = Clare
| first         = Cassandra
| date          = 2016
| location      = London
| publisher     = [[Walker Books]]
| oclc          = 1028442554
| isbn          = 9781406362848
}}</ref>

<ref name="briggs_2009_hunting">{{cite book |title       = Hunting Ground
 |last        = Briggs
 |first       = Patricia
 |date        = 2009
 |location    = New York
 |publisher   = Berkley Pub. Group
 |oclc        = 865278362
 |isbn        = 9780441017386
 |author-link = Patricia Briggs
 |url-access  = registration
 |url         = https://archive.org/details/huntingground00brig
}}</ref>

<ref name="wallace_2011_king">{{cite book
| title         = [[The Pale King]]
| last          = Wallace
| first         = David Foster
| date          = 2011
| location      = London
| publisher     = Hamish Hamilton
| oclc          = 729687079
| isbn          = 9780241144800
| author-link   = David Foster Wallace
}}</ref>

<ref name="doyle_1893_sherlock">{{cite book
| title         = [[The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes]]
| last          = Doyle
| first         = Arthur Conan
| date          = 1893
| author-link   = Arthur Conan Doyle
}}</ref>

<ref name="mowat_1979_birds">{{cite book
| title         = And No Birds Sang
| last          = Mowat
| first         = Farley
| date          = 1979
| location      = London
| publisher     = Cassell
| oclc          = 16557956
| isbn          = 9780304307470
| author-link   = Farley Mowat
}}</ref>

<ref name="zelazny_1978_chaos">{{cite book
| title         = Chronicles of Amber. Volume II
| chapter       = Chapter 5, The Courts of Chaos
| last          = Zelazny
| first         = Roger
| date          = 1978
| location      = Garden City, New York
| publisher     = Nelson Doubleday Pub.
| oclc          = 316235986
| author-link   = Roger Zelazny
}}</ref>

<ref name="toole_1980_dunces">{{cite book
| title         = [[A Confederacy of Dunces]]
| last          = Toole
| first         = John Kennedy
| date          = 1980
| location      = Baton Rouge
| publisher     = Louisiana State University Press
| oclc          = 318457173
| isbn          = 9780807106570
| author-link   = John Kennedy Toole
}}</ref>

<ref name="smith_2001_survival">{{cite book
| title         = Law of Survival
| url         = https://archive.org/details/lawofsurvival0000smit
| url-access    = registration
| chapter       = 32
| last          = Smith
| first         = Kristine 
| date          = 2001
| location      = New York, NY  
| publisher     = Eos Books
| oclc          = 48105904
| isbn          = 9780380807857
| author-link   = Kristine Smith
}}</ref>

<ref name="reaves_1915_peaks">{{cite AV media
| people        = Eason, Reaves (Director)
| date          = 1915-04-12
| title         = The Poet of the Peaks
| medium        = motion picture
| language      = English
| time          = <!-- Insert relevant hh:mm time in movie referencing poem.-->
| location      = USA
| publisher     = Mutual Film
| oclc          =<!-- None found-->
}}</ref>

<ref name="selick_2009_coraline">{{cite AV media
| people        = Henry Selick (Director)
| date          = 2009
| title         = Coraline
| medium        = motion picture
| language      = English
| location      = USA
| publisher     = Focus Features
| oclc          = 895036872
}}</ref>

<ref name="mckennitt_2018_lost">{{cite AV media
| people        = McKennitt, Loreena (Artist)
| date          = 2018
| title         = Lost Souls
| medium        = audio compact disc
| location      = New York, NY
| publisher     = Universal Music Enterprises
| oclc          = 1048033767
}}</ref>

<ref name="faun_2009_balladen">{{cite AV media
| people        = Faun (Album)
| date          = 2009
| title         = Buch Der Balladen
| trans-title   = Book of Ballads
| medium        = audio compact disc
| oclc          = 1010338374
| asin          = B00CV9225E
| at            = track 10 "Belle Dame Sana Merci"
}}</ref>

<ref name="stanford_1910_score">{{cite AV media
| people        = Stanford, Charles Villiers (music), Keats, John (words)
| date          = 1910 <!-- Note: This is an approximate year.-->
| title         = La belle dame sans merci : ballad (For voice and piano)
| medium        = musical score
| location      = London
| publisher     = Augener & Co.
| oclc          = 433495401
}}</ref>

<ref name="hadley_1935_score">{{cite AV media
| people        = Hadley, Patrick (music), Keats, John (words)
| date          = 1935
| title         = La belle dame sans merci
| medium        = printed musical score
| location      = London
| publisher     = Curwen
| oclc          = 24862985
}}</ref>

<ref name="californ_20070910">{{Cite episode
 | title          = LOL
 | episode-link   = List_of_Californication_episodes#Season_1_(2007)
 | series         = Californication
 | series-link    = Californication (TV series)
 | first          = Tom 
 | last           = Kampinos
 | network        = Showtime
 | date           = 2007-09-10
 | season         = 1
 | number         = 5
 | language       = English
 | oclc           = 941908978
}}</ref>

<ref name="rosemary_20030831">{{Cite episode
 | title          = And No Birds Sing
 | episode-link   = Rosemary_%26_Thyme#Series_1_(2003)
 | series         = Rosemary & Thyme
 | series-link    = Rosemary & Thyme
 | first1         = Brian
 | last1          = Eastman
 | first2         = Clive
 | last2          = Exton
 | network        = ITV
 | date           = 2003-08-31
 | season         = 1
 | number         = 1
 | language       = English
 | oclc           = 1040647468
}}</ref>

<ref name="abbey_20151018">{{Cite episode
 | title          = Episode 5
 | episode-link   = List_of_Downton_Abbey_episodes#Series_6_(2015)
 | series         = Downton Abbey
 | series-link    = Downton Abbey
 | first          = Fellowes
 | last           = Julian
 | network        = ITV
 | date           = 2015-10-18
 | season         = 6
 | number         = 5
 | language       = English
 | oclc           = 932137942
}}</ref>

<ref name="victoria_20170910">{{Cite episode
 | title          = Warp and Weft
 | episode-link   = Victoria_(UK_TV_series)#Series_2_(2017)
 | series         = Victoria
 | series-link    = Victoria (UK TV series)
 | first          = Sax
 | last           = Geoffrey
 | network        = ITV
 | date           = 2017-09-10
 | season         = 2
 | number         = 3
 | language       = English
 | oclc           = 1026276682
}}</ref>

<ref name="keats_1905_selincourt">{{cite book
| title        = The Poems of John Keats
| url          = https://archive.org/details/poemsofjohnkeats00keat
| last         = Keats
| first        = John
| author-link  = John Keats
| editor-last  = Sélincourt
| editor-first = Ernest De
| editor-link  = Ernest de Sélincourt
| date         = 1905
| location     = New York
| publisher    = Dodd, Mead & Company
| pages        = [https://archive.org/details/poemsofjohnkeats00keat/page/244 244]-247
| oclc         = 11128824
}}</ref>

<ref name=" Oxford_English_Verse">{{cite book
| title        = Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1900
| url          = https://www.bartleby.com/101/633.html
| last         = Keats
| first        = John
| author-link  = John Keats
| editor-last  = Quiller-Couch
| editor-first = Sir Arthur Thomas
| editor-link  = Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
| date         = 1919
| location     = Oxford
| publisher    = Clarendon Press
| pages        = https://www.bartleby.com/101/633.html
| oclc         = 1171806391
}}</ref>

<ref name="crane_1865_painting">{{Citation
| last          = Crane
| first         = Walter T.
| year          = 1865
| title         = Le belle Dame Sans Merci
| publisher     = Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
| url           = https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Walter_T._Crane_-_La_belle_Dame_Sans_Merci_(1865).jpg&oldid=290464764
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="waterhouse_1893_painting">{{Citation
| last          = Waterhouse
| first         = John William
| year          = 1893
| title         = La Belle Dame Sans Merci
| publisher     = Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
| url           = https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:La_Belle_Dame_Sans_Merci,_by_John_William_Waterhouse,_1893,_oil_on_canvas_-_Hessisches_Landesmuseum_Darmstadt_-_Darmstadt,_Germany_-_DSC01228.jpg&oldid=260668475
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="dicksee_1890_painting">{{Citation
| last          = Frank
| first         = Dicksee
| year          = 1890
| title         = La Belle Dame Sans Merci
| publisher     = Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
| url           = https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Redgirl_and_knight02.jpg&oldid=309188121
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="rheam_1901_painting">{{Citation
| last          = Rheam
| first         = Henry Meynell
| year          = 1901
| title         = La  Belle Dame sans Merci
| publisher     = Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
| url           = https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Henry_Meynell_Rheam_-_La_Belle_Dame_sans_Merci.jpg&oldid=119268210
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="hughes_18xx_painting">{{Citation
| last          = Hugues
| first         = Arthur
| author-link   = Arthur Hughes (artist)
| year          = <!-- Difficult to pin down.-->
| title         = La Belle Dame Sans Merci
| publisher     = Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository
| url           = https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Arthur_Hugues_-_La_belle_dame_sans_merci.jpg&oldid=132350511
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="punch_1920_drawing">{{Citation
| author        = 
| first         = 
| date          = 1920-12-01
| title         = LA BELLE DAME SANS MERCI
| publisher     = [[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]
| url           = https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:La_Belle_Dame_sans_Merci_-_Punch_cartoon_-_Project_Gutenberg_eText_19105.png&oldid=241841701
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="cooper_1986_fatale">{{cite journal
| last          = Cooper
| first         = Robyn
| date          = 1986
| editor-last1   = Dean
| editor-first1  = Sonia
| editor-last2  = Ryan
| editor-first2 = Judith
| title         = Arthur Hughes's La Belle Dame sans merci and the femme fatale
| url           = https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/arthur-hughess-la-belle-dame-sans-merci-and-the-femme-fatale/
| archive-url   = https://web.archive.org/web/20170526185635/https://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/essay/arthur-hughess-la-belle-dame-sans-merci-and-the-femme-fatale/
| url-status      = live
| journal       = Art Bulletin of Victoria
| volume        = 27
| issn          = 0066-7935
| publisher     = Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria
| oclc          = 888714380
| archive-date  = 2017-05-26
| access-date   = 2018-11-30
}}</ref>

<ref name="christie_2003_mesopotamia-cd">{{cite AV media
| people        = Christie, Agatha (author); Bakewell, Michael
| date          = 2003
| title         = [[Murder in Mesopotamia]] : A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation
| medium        = audio compact disc
| language      = English
| time          = 01:16:55 <!--See also 00:20:03-->
| location      = Bath
| publisher     = BBC Audiobooks
| isbn          = 9780563494232
| oclc          = 938615128
| quote         = POIROT:But Louise Leidner was no ordinary woman. DR REILLY:She certainly was not. She'd got that sort of... calamitous magic that plays the devil with things. Kind of a Belle Dame sans Merci.
| author-link   = Agatha Christie
}}</ref>

<ref name="christie_1936_mesopotamia">{{cite book
| title         = Murder in Mesopotamia
| last          = Christie
| first         = Agatha
| date          = 1936
| chapter       = Chapter 19. A New Suspicion
| location      = London
| publisher     = Published for the Crime club by Collins
| oclc          = 938286864
| author-link   = Agatha Christie
| quote         = But Mrs. Leidner was something out of the ordinary in that line. She'd got just that sort of calamitous magic that plays the deuce with things - a kind of Belle Dame sans Merci.
}}</ref>

}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource|La Belle Dame sans Merci}}

{{John Keats}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belle Dame Sans Merci, La}}
[[Category:1819 poems]]
[[Category:Gothic fiction]]
[[Category:Poetry by John Keats]]
[[Category:Witchcraft in written fiction]]