Keats vs Coleridge: Draft Version
The two poems I am going to analyse are La Belle Dame Sans Merci.
A ballad, by John Keats published in 1819, and Christabel, by
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published in 1816. Both poems talk about love and they
are from the Romantic period, the first one was published only three years
before the second one.
They are very simple to read and a
comprehensive vocabulary. It is remarkable in the poem by Keats the used of
French sentences, “ La belle dame sans merci” appears in the title and in the
tenth paragraph. When I read the title of Keats I though on a very beautiful
woman typical in 18th century that she acts as a doll, she only
represents beauty, in any moment she shows
her intelligence, because that I think Keats talks about a woman without
“ merci” that I think it means without “ grace”. When I read the poem by
Coleridge, I though about a girl called Christabel, that I think is the name of
the girl the author loves, and that he is going to talk about her. The first
impression of the poem by Keats is that the author talks about a woman he met
some time ago, that he was very impressed with her beauty, she loved him and he
was so happy, but one night he dreamt in her arms and when he awoke he found
himself alone, and because that he is unhappy and he thinks the birds do not
sing. The first impression of Coleridge’ s poem is that he talks about a very
pure woman, he talks about her with a religious tone, she is a fair and bright
lady that dresses white robes and a veil. He says you can bring her home, she will
love you and she will have you in charity, I think the author is talking about
a woman without pains, that she has the grace of God and this makes that love
would be true.
Keats wrote a poem divided into 12 paragraphs of four lines each one and uses a free rhythm. To emphasize the poem he uses the repetition: paragraphs one and two has the same first line, and the second one is a question, and followed by a description. Paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6 start talking about the author, he talks about himself “ I see.., I met…, I made…, I set…” and talks about the impression the author had when he met the lady. Then in paragraphs 7, 8 and 9 the poem talks about the lady “ she found…, she took…, she lulled…” and it talks about how she reacts and how she speaks. In paragraphs 10 and 11 the author talks about the dream he had when he was slept in his lover’ s arms and explains why he is alone in the hill. The last paragraph repeats first and second paragraphs, the poem starts with questions about why the poet is in this situation, and it finishes saying “ well, because that I am in this situation”. In front of this we have the poem written by Coleridge that is not divided as the Keats’ s one, but it has a determined rhythm that is A-A-B-B-A; C-C-D-D-E-F-F-E; two free verses- G-G-H-H-I-J-I-J-K-L-K. Christabel is divided into three paragraphs, the first one has five lines and it is important to emphasize when the author names Jesu and Maria because this says us that the poem has a religious sense, because they are from the Bible. It is an introduction of the rest of the poem because the girl was some where in the position of the cross and she saw some thing, last line makes the question of what she saw. The another two paragraphs talk about what she saw, they are the answer to the question. She saw a damsel bright and I think this is the reason because the author talks about this lady as an angel, she saw God and He made her pure and then she appeared as a bright lady, as the author says “ surpassingly fair”, all this makes the lady as the perfect woman to be with you, the true love.
In conclusion I think that both author had different visions of love, Keats though about a princess, a very nice girl, with wild eyes that love him and that seems she is charmed and when the day finishes, the lady returns to her fantastic world and the author falls in a terrible forest where there are not sing birds and where he is very unhappy. Whereas Coleridge talks about a religious love, the author thinks that if the lady has the grace of God and she is pure, she will love him for ever. While Keats finishes without the girl, Coleridge gains her love at the end. I think that Coleridge has a selfish love while Keats pretends to have a romantic love.
