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Friday, February 4, 2011

Frank Dicksee - La Belle Dame Sans Merci


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6 comments:

  1. HelsFebruary 4, 2011 at 11:03 AM

    "She looked at me as she did love,
    And made sweet moan".

    I think the Pre-Raphaelite idea of chivalry and medieval love was hilarious :) Just as well Dicksee could paint.

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  2. The Fuller FamilyFebruary 5, 2011 at 6:20 PM

    I like the Waterhouse painting of this scene as well. But this knight looks stunned, still resisting somewhat. "Blue Ghost Post" compared some of the paintings that illustrate this poem in a post last year.

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  3. HermesFebruary 6, 2011 at 2:34 PM

    Thank you that is a nice post you linked too.

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  4. Lit~LassFebruary 7, 2011 at 5:00 AM

    All of these "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" paintings are beautiful and interesting, but I certainly believe Waterhouse's is the most enchanting. While the others tend to portray La Belle Dame triumphant and strong in a position above the knight, Waterhouse portrays her below the knight, weaving her enchantment over him, yet looking young, innocent and almost vulnerable. Quite frankly, I'm as enchanted by this "faery's child" as the knight. Waterhouse's version is captivating, but appropriately sinister!

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  5. HermesFebruary 7, 2011 at 10:24 AM

    This is interesting as I didn't know Keats wrote two versions:

    http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/labelledamesansmerci.html

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  6. The Fuller FamilyFebruary 7, 2011 at 12:36 PM

    And yet another link--I found this page which explains a little more about the two versions, and includes some comments from Keats about the "kisses four."

    http://www.pathguy.com/lbdsm.htm

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