Challenges to Comprehension Implied by the Logo of Laetus in Praesens
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3 March 2009 | Draft

Gaia: La Belle Dame sans Merci

with apologies to John Keats

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La Belle Dame sans Merci
by John Keats (The Poetical Works of John Keats, 1884).		 Gaia: La Belle Dame sans Merci
with apologies to John Keats
   
O WHAT can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing. 		O WHAT can ail thee, citizen,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has wither'd 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. 		O what can ail thee, citizen!
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 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 met fair Gaia 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 look'd at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan. 		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.
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. 		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 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 sigh'd fill sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four. 		She took me to her elfin grot,
And there she wept, and sigh'd fill sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream'd -- Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream'd
On the cold hill's side. 		And there she lulled me asleep,
And there I dream'd -- Ah! woe betide!
The latest dream I ever dream'd
On the cold hill's side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried -- 'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!' 		I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried -- 'La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!'
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill's side. 		I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gaped 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 wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing. 		And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is wither'd from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Systemic ignorance is not a valid plea before Gaia's cybernetic law !
Spontaneous Initiation of Armageddon: a heartfelt response to systemic negligence
Unknown Undoing challenge of incomprehensibility of systemic neglect
Systemic Crises as Keys to Systemic Remedies

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