Edits of "La belle dame sans merci"

I was pleased to see two versions of “La belle dame sans merci” in our anthology, because I think being privy to the writing process can enlighten readers’ to poets intentions. I was surprised that the preferred version of the poem (pg 906-907) seems more forgiving of the femme fatale, whereas the earlier draft (pg 904-905) made her seem stronger and more seductive—closer to what I think of when I think of femmes fatales.

In the earlier draft of the poem, the woman is described as lulling the narrator to sleep (line 33), whereas in the later version the pair “slumber’d on the moss,” (line 33). Combined with her “fairy’s song,” or her “sweet moan,” the woman seems like a siren. Having her lull the knight to sleep adds to this depiction because it contributes to the idea that she has power over him.

Additionally, Keats changes some words between the earlier and later versions, with the effect of making the woman in the poem seem tamer. These changes include “wept” to “gaz’d” in line 33/30 and “wild wild eyes,” (line 31) to “wild sad eyes,” (line 31). By changing “wept” to “gaz’d”, Keats takes away an emotional expression from the woman. In a way, he replaces that emotion with “sad” in line 31, but sadness is a less powerful expression than weeping is. Additionally, the repetition of “wild” in line 31 emphasized the untamable nature of the woman. Pairing “wild” with “sad” makes her seem less dangerous—the difference in connotation reminds me of the difference between a caged wild animal and a loose one.

The woman still seems quite deadly in the preferred version of the poem—after all, she caused the knight to become “haggard and woe-begone,” (line 6). The differences between the two versions are subtle. I wonder if Keats thought he had created too deadly a woman in his first draft, and whether the changes contributed to different interpretations of the 1819 and 1848 versions by readers.