Comparative Analysis of "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" and "The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock"
Michelle Kfoury
Professor Butterworth
ENG 201
4/30/2013
Comparative Analysis of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” It comes as no surprise that love poems are not a rare commodity. Whether they’re about a lovesick man pining for his soul mate or a general reflection about how one perceives love, these poems offer an analysis of one of the most innate desires of our human nature. Despite inevitable differences in writing style and point of view, there can be times where love poems employ similar strategies to tackle such an analysis. John Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and T. S. Eliot’s “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” are no exception to this occurrence. Both poems use two different and distinct settings to asses their experiences with love; the first setting to characterize the protagonist of the poem being alienated and abandoned with respect to love; the second setting to recall or imagine love as if to resolve their alienation and solitude. Further comparative analysis will show that the settings in both poems allow for the protagonist to offer a universalization of love through self-reflection. The first setting of both poems begin by establishing a world of despair, suggesting that the protagonist has been alienated or abandoned with respect to love. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” opens with a knight waking from a dream, “On the cold hill’s side” (Ln. 44) It can be inferred that the poem is set in the late fall, as “the sedge has withered from the Lake/and no birds sing” (Ln. 3-4), and “The squirrel’s granary is full/And the harvest’s done” (Ln. 6-7). The beauty of springtime has faded, and the cold and bleak winter is fast approaching. The hillside is devoid of life. The bleakness and desolation of winter and the description of the cold hillside draws the relationship between it and the knight’s current circumstance in regards to love. He didn’t just wake up on the cold hillside with the woman or any fellow
Professor Butterworth
ENG 201
4/30/2013
Comparative Analysis of “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” It comes as no surprise that love poems are not a rare commodity. Whether they’re about a lovesick man pining for his soul mate or a general reflection about how one perceives love, these poems offer an analysis of one of the most innate desires of our human nature. Despite inevitable differences in writing style and point of view, there can be times where love poems employ similar strategies to tackle such an analysis. John Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” and T. S. Eliot’s “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” are no exception to this occurrence. Both poems use two different and distinct settings to asses their experiences with love; the first setting to characterize the protagonist of the poem being alienated and abandoned with respect to love; the second setting to recall or imagine love as if to resolve their alienation and solitude. Further comparative analysis will show that the settings in both poems allow for the protagonist to offer a universalization of love through self-reflection. The first setting of both poems begin by establishing a world of despair, suggesting that the protagonist has been alienated or abandoned with respect to love. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” opens with a knight waking from a dream, “On the cold hill’s side” (Ln. 44) It can be inferred that the poem is set in the late fall, as “the sedge has withered from the Lake/and no birds sing” (Ln. 3-4), and “The squirrel’s granary is full/And the harvest’s done” (Ln. 6-7). The beauty of springtime has faded, and the cold and bleak winter is fast approaching. The hillside is devoid of life. The bleakness and desolation of winter and the description of the cold hillside draws the relationship between it and the knight’s current circumstance in regards to love. He didn’t just wake up on the cold hillside with the woman or any fellow
Cited: Elliot, T.S. “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. The Norton Anthology of Poetry 5 ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 2005. 103. Print Keats, John. “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”. The Norton Anthology of Poetry 5 ed. Eds. Margaret Ferguson, Mary Jo Salter, Jon Stallworthy. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Ltd., 2005. 103. Print