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 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 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 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 Eifin 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 dreamt 
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 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 is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.