The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

ååååå L å
la belle dame sans merci (la bel dam son mairsee)
Archetype of an unattainable lover. <strong>The</strong> allusion
is to the poem “La belle dame sans merci” (1820)
by the British poet John Keats, in which a knight
falls hopelessly in love with an unattainable fairy
woman. Keats himself drew on an older tradition,
notably a 1424 poem of the same title by
the French poet Alain Chartier. She was fated to
remain his belle dame sans merci, ever out of his
reach.
la belle époque (la bel aypok) A period of easy
living, elegance, and high culture, especially the
period that began in Eu rope at the close of the Franco-
Prus sian War in 1871 and ended with the outbreak
of World War I in 1914. <strong>The</strong> phrase is French for
“the beautiful era.” In modern usage, it often
implies a glossy appearance masking less attractive
realities beneath. <strong>The</strong> 1950s were la belle époque
for the club, when they were the equal of any team in the
world.
laborer is worthy of his hire, the A person who
does work for others deserves to be paid. <strong>The</strong> proverb
comes from Luke 10:7, which quotes Christ as
saying, “And in the same house remain, eating and
drinking such things as they give: for the labourer
is worthy of his hire.” (See also 1 Timothy 5:18.)
Variants include the Roman proverb the dog must
be bad indeed that is not worth a bone. “Your
ser vice will not be altogether gratuitous, my old
friend—the labourer is worthy of his hire” (Sir
Walter Scott, St Ronan’s Well, 1824).
labor of love Work undertaken voluntarily, for
the love of doing it, rather than for payment. <strong>The</strong>
phrase is biblical in origin, appearing at 1 <strong>The</strong>ssalonians
1:3: “Remembering without ceasing your
work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of
hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God
and our Father.” “Her willing feet were never tired
of taking steps for those who had smoothed her
way; her skilful hands were always busy in some
labour of love for them” (Louisa May Alcott, Eight
Cousins, 1874).
labor of Sisyphus See sisyphean.
labors of Hercules (herkyooleez) A series of
daunting, almost impossibly demanding tasks. <strong>The</strong>
allusion is to the 12 challenges that were imposed
on the Greek hero hercules by his cousin King
Eurystheus of Tiryns. In order, they were killing
the terrible Nemean lion; vanquishing the manyheaded
serpent called the Hydra; capturing the
formidable Erymanthean boar; taking possession
of the Sacred Hind of Arcadia; destroying the
Stymphalian birds; cleaning out the Augean stables;
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