John Keats poem read by Ben Whishaw.. featured in the film Bright Star and also available on the Bright Star soundtrack. Images are stills taken from the film.
ben wishaw truly has a beautiful voice. his intonations are so subtle, and the way he reads the words are truly entrancing. i can spend all day listening to his voice.
I first read this poem in (of all places) prison. Someone sent me a poetry collection. I wasn't really into poetry but when you live in a 4x8 cage believe me you'll read anything. That book getting sent to me was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life. I remember my first time reading this poem, and when I got to the "_La Belle Dame sans Merci_" line the hairs stood up on my arms and the back of my neck. I'm Cajun so of course I knew what the title of the poem translated to. But I sure as hell wasn't expecting _that!_ If one didn't know any better, he could be forgiven for guessing this story comes out of one of Tolkien's books about Middle-Earth. Without doubt Tolkien would have studied the poem at some point in his education and I like to think that it helped a little bit in laying the ground for the world that came out of Tolkien's mind later. It was one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced. Quite aside from the language, which is brilliant, the poem is also remarkable because it tells a complete -- and quite disturbing -- story in a few short lines. One of the most skilled uses of language I've ever seen. The reason this poem and many others work so well for Ben Whishaw is because he tells it with sensitivity and vulnerability. So many men are afraid to let that aspect of their personalities show. Whishaw also does a very good job reading the poetry of Wilfried Owen. Despite the fact that Owen's poetry addresses the sickening horror of his experiences on the battlefield in WW1, the central theme is of the fragility and vulnerability of the men, such as himself, who were thrown into that meatgrinder. His poetry simply wouldn't sound right being read by some gruff-voiced macho man type. Whishaw is perfect for it. Look up Whishaw's reading of Owen's "Dulce et decorum est" but, I warn you, not if you have a weak stomach. Note* Wilfried Owen was a British infantry officer who served with great courage in the trenches of WW1, while still not allowing the experience to coarsen him. His poetry was sensitive, perceptive, even delicate. Which again is why Whishaw is perfect to read it. Owen was killed in combat by German machinegun fire at almost the last possible moment before the war ended. His poetry was published posthumously and he's regarded the greatest poet of that war.
2020 anyone?? I fell in love with this poem in my secondary school english literature class. Back in Cameroon, west Africa. It is so beautiful. ❤ lt transcends time and space. 😊
I have this poem in my secondary school too!!!!...and it' so beautiful as if Keats had poured his entire heart in this poem for our teacher told he wrote this poem for his beloved whom he knew was not going to be with together forever!
Like all great actors in the English tradition, Ben's lovely reading brings tears to the eyes by the end of the very first line. When a deeply loveable man speaks such powerful thoughts with a sonorous voice and exquisite diction (NB: in standard modern English; no Oxford accent - not even a hint of Stephen Fry) your tears will flow - unless you have a heart of stone.....
Sounds like the one and only born to do that reading. Utterly magic and unique! Personally, none else was, is or will be that close from perfection declaiming that specific poem. *
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. ================================================ @svramanuj
That took me way back to the mid 1960's. We recited this poem during elocution lessons. I didn't realise how powerful this poem was at the time, well I was only about 14 years old !
so this poem is about Youth ... which is beautiful . shows us beautiful dreams ... and then leaves us .. destroyed and loneliness ... as we get older and then die .. Do you think is that what it is all about ? or just about a flirtatious woman who just left him heart broken ?
Keats was aware that he was dying at the time but was sad about the sexual fantasies he’d lose in death. So it that sense it’s a mix of youth and old age being intertwined
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.
I think Ben Whishaw is a great actor. I first heard of him in Taymor's version of "The Tempest" (he plays Ariel). If another film of "Moby-Dick" were to be made, Whishaw would be PERFECT as Ishmael.
The reader should contact From Software about voicing characters in future games, his voice is simply destined for it. Any Souls players here will understand what I mean.
Modern day interpretation He met a beautiful young woman, he fell in love with her quickly and was enchanted by her beauty. She sweet talked him into thinking they would have a perfect life together if he moved in with her. Being blindsided by love and lust, he fell for the love bombing. At first it was perfect and he fell asleep, not in the literal sense, but he was completely blind to reality. But after a while she started to show her true self. She was emotionally unstable, a cheater and lier. He started to hear whispers and rumours from past lovers about how she wasn’t as perfect as she seemed and she has ruined their lives, they tried to warn him but he was under her spell of manipulation. Every time a problem arose she would sing the same lines of promises that got him hooked and things would seem okay again for a while. But one day he woke up and came to his senses, but by the time he realised what was happening it was too late. He was already an old man. He realised that he’d wasted the best years of his life with a manipulator. She’d taken everything from him. He was homeless, heartbroken and lonely with no money. The end of the poem explains the state of his mind when he finds himself old and alone, and about how he struggles to see any beauty or enjoyment from life.
There are three possible interpretations. She's evil and lures him into a faery realm that will suck the life out of him. Or; he's dominating her and taking away all that makes her natural and pure. OR that they are both genuinley in love but she saves him by placing him away from the faery realm which will kill him. And he forever lingers on the ''cold hill side'' waiting for her, while she resides in the realm of the faeries. What's your favourite interpretation? Mine's the melancholic latter.
This reader is horrible. It should be faster. It would compliment the meter. It just sounds better. He's killing it's pace. Murder! "And no birds sing." Continuity is crucial the first "no birds sing should sound like the last." No no no.
![กินอาหาร ถูก vs แพง!! จานละ 500,000 vs จานละ 50!! [Ver. 2024]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/FF_HppKg4vs/mqdefault.jpg)
The way he speaks, it's like he's broken inside and I want to give him a hug.
I wish Ben would record an audiobook of him reading Keats' poems. He's got such a lovely, soothing, expressive voice.
Yeah...
@@serdihunteronpi28 im only here because of school
@@fraggangz9393 me too
ben wishaw truly has a beautiful voice. his intonations are so subtle, and the way he reads the words are truly entrancing. i can spend all day listening to his voice.
I first read this poem in (of all places) prison. Someone sent me a poetry collection. I wasn't really into poetry but when you live in a 4x8 cage believe me you'll read anything.
That book getting sent to me was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life.
I remember my first time reading this poem, and when I got to the "_La Belle Dame sans Merci_" line the hairs stood up on my arms and the back of my neck. I'm Cajun so of course I knew what the title of the poem translated to. But I sure as hell wasn't expecting _that!_
If one didn't know any better, he could be forgiven for guessing this story comes out of one of Tolkien's books about Middle-Earth. Without doubt Tolkien would have studied the poem at some point in his education and I like to think that it helped a little bit in laying the ground for the world that came out of Tolkien's mind later.
It was one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced. Quite aside from the language, which is brilliant, the poem is also remarkable because it tells a complete -- and quite disturbing -- story in a few short lines. One of the most skilled uses of language I've ever seen.
The reason this poem and many others work so well for Ben Whishaw is because he tells it with sensitivity and vulnerability. So many men are afraid to let that aspect of their personalities show. Whishaw also does a very good job reading the poetry of Wilfried Owen. Despite the fact that Owen's poetry addresses the sickening horror of his experiences on the battlefield in WW1, the central theme is of the fragility and vulnerability of the men, such as himself, who were thrown into that meatgrinder. His poetry simply wouldn't sound right being read by some gruff-voiced macho man type. Whishaw is perfect for it.
Look up Whishaw's reading of Owen's "Dulce et decorum est" but, I warn you, not if you have a weak stomach.
Note* Wilfried Owen was a British infantry officer who served with great courage in the trenches of WW1, while still not allowing the experience to coarsen him. His poetry was sensitive, perceptive, even delicate. Which again is why Whishaw is perfect to read it. Owen was killed in combat by German machinegun fire at almost the last possible moment before the war ended. His poetry was published posthumously and he's regarded the greatest poet of that war.
2020 anyone?? I fell in love with this poem in my secondary school english literature class. Back in Cameroon, west Africa. It is so beautiful. ❤ lt transcends time and space. 😊
I fell in love with Keats at age 13. In a small town in wisconsin. Usa
I prefer the wretched Wight rewrite
@@lindarogow5338 Beautiful 🥰
Its true what they say. Words to live on!
I have this poem in my secondary school too!!!!...and it' so beautiful as if Keats had poured his entire heart in this poem for our teacher told he wrote this poem for his beloved whom he knew was not going to be with together forever!
Like all great actors in the English tradition, Ben's lovely reading brings tears to the eyes by the end of the very first line. When a deeply loveable man speaks such powerful thoughts with a sonorous voice and exquisite diction (NB: in standard modern English; no Oxford accent - not even a hint of Stephen Fry) your tears will flow - unless you have a heart of stone.....
Sounds like the one and only born to do that reading. Utterly magic and unique! Personally, none else was, is or will be that close from perfection declaiming that specific poem. *
I could listen to the narrator FOREVER and never get bored
LOVE IT, splendidly read!!!
Beautifully read. It's as if he's broken, which really suits the tone of the poem.
In 2012, i studied that poem in senior secondary school & then i became a fan of keat's.
Love From India 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
Ah Mr Handsome, Ben Whishaws soothing voice, and my favorite poet John Keats. Perfect combination, A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
A Poem in our secondary school. Perfectly explained by our English ma'am. Still a remember.
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.
================================================
@svramanuj
adore him. fantastic voice and actor
It's so calm then so sad.
Beautiful... Poem Ever & remains forever!!!
That took me way back to the mid 1960's. We recited this poem during elocution lessons. I didn't realise how powerful this poem was at the time, well I was only about 14 years old !
Beautiful and haunting!
Ben is a pure gift for us.
Thank you for posting this:d
my alltime favourite poem!!!!
2023 - read by the new q from the bond films - truely soul filling
A lovely reading to go with fine still photographs. Well done.
My favourite English poet
Magnifique.
Movie released today on DVD...finally. Will be added to my collection and savored.
The reading suits the poem nicely - well done.
Bellissimo film.
Thank you
I hope my brothers,sisters and sons recover from their heart wrenching breakups.
Very beautiful and exciting!
So soulful…
I am an Indian.
I read The poem named" The poetry of Earth" . When I searched in Google about Jhon Keats I found this lovely poem
simply beautiful
so this poem is about Youth ... which is beautiful . shows us beautiful dreams ... and then leaves us .. destroyed and loneliness ... as we get older and then die ..
Do you think is that what it is all about ? or just about a flirtatious woman who just left him heart broken ?
Keats was aware that he was dying at the time but was sad about the sexual fantasies he’d lose in death. So it that sense it’s a mix of youth and old age being intertwined
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.
I love this poem, I loved the movie and I like very much this actor!
oh.
my.
god.
how did i not find this earlier?!
I know
Where are you now?
Well read. Nice double-tone of earnestness and despair.
so beautiful yet so sad and helpless!
I tried to read this poem along with Ben and my spacing, timing and tone is no where close to his perfection.
Beautiful but so sad. Very well read.
My favourite poem read by my favourite actor - bliss.
2023! 💙💙💙💙💙
So beauty...
Beautiful, thank you :)
I had to do this for a literature course in College...it never left me
Beautiful :)
we can all agree: he nailed it
I think Ben Whishaw is a great actor. I first heard of him in Taymor's version of "The Tempest" (he plays Ariel).
If another film of "Moby-Dick" were to be made, Whishaw would be PERFECT as Ishmael.
His voice *happy sigh*
❤ Keats ❤ Ben whishaw ❤
I'm in love
nyc story.. nyc voice
話してる意味は分からなかったけど声が良すぎて耳が孕んだ
a level english teacher played this in class and I instantly recognised the voice lol
Brilliant
🤩
This is basically the plot of Scott Pilgrim Vs the worl
D
This may have inspired the book, and movie, Coraline, I've heard... The fairy seduced him, and then left him in a cruel world. The birds don't sing 😞
❤
oh dear I am wringing it and you have already upload
It's for forever
The reader should contact From Software about voicing characters in future games, his voice is simply destined for it. Any Souls players here will understand what I mean.
je ssuis l BELLE DAME SANS MERCY OH MWRCY ON ME
Beautiful. But see also the interpretation of John Neville. For me it is the best.
Anybody else felt the urge to clap at the end of this?
no. don't clap when my flight lands, either.
Tempo is kinda fast.... but damn man. Love it.
This is a much different version that what I have and though its lovely either way I think I prefer my own.
Nice
@culturevulture123 :) Lovely.
nice
" i sat her on my pacing steed " hehehehehehe. dudue thats dirty.
😁
😂 lol
It's beautiful.
2022
as though murder wert its motive. as if. an impression greater than its propensity
I prefer the wretched Wight version. Cho. Cho San is a writer in phoenix
Existe-t-il une adaptation française digne de ce poète?
y'all know that la belle dame sans merci is a metaphor for tuberculosis
Victoria Brown
beautiful
Modern day interpretation
He met a beautiful young woman, he fell in love with her quickly and was enchanted by her beauty.
She sweet talked him into thinking they would have a perfect life together if he moved in with her. Being blindsided by love and lust, he fell for the love bombing.
At first it was perfect and he fell asleep, not in the literal sense, but he was completely blind to reality. But after a while she started to show her true self. She was emotionally unstable, a cheater and lier. He started to hear whispers and rumours from past lovers about how she wasn’t as perfect as she seemed and she has ruined their lives, they tried to warn him but he was under her spell of manipulation. Every time a problem arose she would sing the same lines of promises that got him hooked and things would seem okay again for a while.
But one day he woke up and came to his senses, but by the time he realised what was happening it was too late. He was already an old man. He realised that he’d wasted the best years of his life with a manipulator. She’d taken everything from him. He was homeless, heartbroken and lonely with no money. The end of the poem explains the state of his mind when he finds himself old and alone, and about how he struggles to see any beauty or enjoyment from life.
do Tithonus by Tennyson, your voice is so soft
There are three possible interpretations. She's evil and lures him into a faery realm that will suck the life out of him. Or; he's dominating her and taking away all that makes her natural and pure. OR that they are both genuinley in love but she saves him by placing him away from the faery realm which will kill him. And he forever lingers on the ''cold hill side'' waiting for her, while she resides in the realm of the faeries. What's your favourite interpretation? Mine's the melancholic latter.
Beatmyguest001 yes its nice
None of yours
anyone here because of the october daye series
This is so Dark Souls
Anyone have summary these poem plz reply
2022any one ridding this poem
what ailes me? i saw boschs christ and his adam.
@EndRhym3 then you don't have to listen.
ugh this is too much *swoon*
मुरझाया हुआ
Whistling To Much Lol
agreed
frustrated librarian?
Isn't it about a sexually transmitted disease?
he whistles a bit
You can do better?
I can do it without whistling. So, yes.
why am i not poet i'm much much better! granted i drink too much but i'm still good
This reader is horrible. It should be faster. It would compliment the meter. It just sounds better. He's killing it's pace. Murder! "And no birds sing." Continuity is crucial the first "no birds sing should sound like the last." No no no.
am sorry, but i love this poem and his dreary voice and dialect ruined it for me
nice