La Belle Dame sans Merci

I didn't know this Keats poem was based on a 1424 French poem by Alain Chartier La Belle Dame sans Mercy.


There's an interesting article on the poem and on Keats.

Full text

World Book Day March 6th

The UK and Ireland celebrate this on March 6th, so that schools can be involved. In most other countries, it's April 23rd.

This morning the postman rang the doorbell, and handed me a package - Joanne Harris's 'Lollipop Shoes', a sequel to 'Chocolat'. A late Mothers' Day present. How well my daughter knows me.

I have read most of Joanne Harris's work, and especially like the short stories, 'Jigs and Reels' and 'Five Quarters of the Orange' which deals with the topic of collaboration in wartime France.

The film of 'Chocolat', while beautiful to watch, doesn't entirely do justice to the darker side of this writer's imagination. I think she writes beautifully.