La belle dame sans mercy et les Poésies lyriques by Alain Chartier

He was a younger contemporary of the poet Christine de Pisan, and an older contemporary of the nobleman and poet Charles D’Orléans, though not engaged in the battle of Agincourt (1415) where the latter’s capture led to his being detained for twenty-five years in England.ĭue to the limited number of rhymes available in modern English compared to Alain Chartier’s French, the rhyme scheme of ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’ has been altered throughout, in order to produce viable English rhyming verse, while preserving the basic structure of the poem. Alain wrote other verse, and a number of conventional political works critical of wanton corruption and abuses of power within the social order. ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, the title of which John Keats famously used for his own dissimilar though related poem, was written in 1424.

In 1424 he was sent on an embassy to Germany, and three years later on a mission to negotiate the marriage of James I of Scotland’s daughter, Margaret, with the Dauphin, later Louis XI. A follower of the Dauphin, later Charles VII, Alain acted as his royal clerk, notary, and financial secretary. His brother Thomas was notary to the king, and another brother, Jean, a monk of St. He studied, like his elder brother Guillaume, later Bishop of Paris, at the University of Paris, the Sorbonne. ‘Sorrowful pleasure, and dolorous joy’ (‘Triste plaisir et douloureuse joye’)Īlain Chartier (c1385-1430) was born in Bayeux.‘Rich in hope and poor in other treasure’ (‘Riche d’espoir et povre d’autre bien’).‘Near to my lady, far from my desire’ (‘Près de ma dame et loing de mon vouloir’).

‘Or my deep desire shall sate me’ (‘Ou mon desire m’assouvira’).Ballad of The Lost Lover (Ballade de L’Amie Perdue).‘Fire, fire, that seeks to burn my heart entire’ (‘Au feu, au feu qui trestout mon cueur ard’).This work may be freely reproduced, stored and transmitted, electronically or otherwise, for any non-commercial purpose. Kline © Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Originally published in Germany, 15th century - British Library Illustration from 'Das Schachzabelbuch' - a paraphrase in German verse by von Ammenhusen from the Latin of Cessolis

Alain Chartier ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci’, and other poems

La belle dame sans mercy et les Poésies lyriques by Alain Chartier