The poem
Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, Alone and palely loitering; The sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing.
Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, 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 cheek 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 set her on my pacing steed, And nothing else saw all day long; For sideways would she lean, and sing A faery's song.
I made a garland for her head, And bracelets too, and fragrant zone; She look'd at me as she did love, And made sweet moan.
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 gaz'd and sighed deep, And there I shut her wild sad eyes-- So kiss'd to sleep.
And there we slumber'd on the moss, And there I dream'd, ah woe betide, The latest dream I ever dream'd On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings, and princes too, Pale warriors, death-pale were they all; Who cry'd--"La belle Dame sans merci Hath thee in thrall!"
I saw their starv'd lips in the gloam With horrid warning gaped wide, And I awoke, and found me here On the cold hill side.
And this is why I sojourn here Alone and palely loitering, Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake, And no birds sing.
instead of 'wretched wight', there should be 'knight-at-arms'!! This detail is important because this poem can be taken as a reference to courtly love (the knight battles evil for his lady, his secret love) which Keats was so fascinated about.
I completely agree with the last post. I was reviewing this poem from my text book, and the first line of the poem from my text book says: "o what can ail thee, knight-at-arms" It says nothing about the wretched wight.
The version here was the one that was edited by Keats' publisher. The fifth and six stanzas should be the other way round, among other things.
I've looked it up in my text book and there it does say wretched wight. This gives the whole poem a different meaning, for a knight is a noble man and wretched wight could be anyone. This version doesn't seem to reliable for Keats was quite aware of his aristochratic heritage.