What are the similarities and differences between the poems “First Love” and “La Belle Dame Sans Merci”?
mrs-campbell Teacher High School – 11th Grade These two poems both tell of men who are fully taken by the beauty of a woman, falling instantly in love. It is about the passion of love at first sight, and how it can take you hostage and leave you changed. The similarities are mentioned above, in meaning and theme. In both poems the man sees a beautiful woman and is entranced: “I ne’er was struck before that hour/with love so sudden and so sweet/her face it bloomed like a sweet flower/and stole my heart away complete” and “I met a lady in the meads/Full beauty-a faery’s child/Her hair was long, her foot was light/And her eyes were wild.” In both excerpts, the man has met a beautiful woman. Then, in the end, both men feel changed, overtaken somehow, and left alone: “My heart has left its dwelling place and can return no more” and “And this is why I sojourn here/Alone and palely loitering.” So both are left alone, changed, never the same again. The differences are that “First Love” is a ma
Related Questions
- What should non-Muslims know about key similarities and differences between Islamic and Judeo-Christian traditions?
- What are the differences and the similarities between the poems Murder in the Cathedral and The Waste Land?
- What are the similarities and differences between the poems "First Love" and "La Belle Dame Sans Merci"?
