Source: Keats, John. "La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n. d. Web. 24 June 2011. Determine the meter of this poem. Which sentence describes the metrical pattern?

The meter is iambic with 8 feet in the first 3 lines; the last line has 4 feet.

The meter is iambic with 4 feet in the first 3 lines; the last line has 2 feet.

The poem is written in blank verse.

The poem is written in free verse.

Read the poem below and answer the question that follows.

“La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad”

by John Keats

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 took me to her elfin grot,

And there she wept and sighed full sore,

And there I shut her wild wild eyes

With kisses four.

And there she lullèd 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;

They cried—“La Belle Dame sans Merci

Thee hath in thrall!”

I saw their starved lips in the gloam,

With horrid warning gapèd 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.

Source: Keats, John. “La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 24 June 2011.

Determine the meter of this poem. Which sentence describes the metrical pattern?

The meter is iambic with 8 feet in the first 3 lines; the last line has 4 feet.

The meter is iambic with 4 feet in the first 3 lines; the last line has 2 feet.

The poem is written in blank verse.

The poem is written in free verse.

The poem is written in free verse.

Explanation:

According to the poem given, the poet writes in free verse.

A poem written in free verse is a type of poem which is inconsistent with its rhyme patterns and rhythm, uses repetition, alliteration, and scattered internal rhymes.

the tone of the passage is sympathetic to the forbidden love of romeo and juliet. the nurse plays a significant role in the play. she is responsible for making their meeting again possible. additionally, there is a sense of warning in the choice of words of the nurse. she seems to be authoritative when she calls romeo "scurvy knave", and at the same time the fact that she addresses to him as "sir" reflects respect. the nurse is "vexed", this word describes her confused state of mind. on the one hand, she finds romeo a fine and eloquent man, but on the other, it is thought that man's nature forces men to try to trick women.