“The Eve of St. Agnes” Summary

“The Eve of St. Agnes” Themes

• 

  The Power of Passion

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• 

  Dreams vs. Reality

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• 

  Death and Mortality

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “The Eve of St. Agnes”

• Lines 1-9

  St. Agnes' Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
         The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
         The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass,
         And silent was the flock in woolly fold:
         Numb were the Beadsman's fingers, while he told
         His rosary, and while his frosted breath,
         Like pious incense from a censer old,
         Seem'd taking flight for heaven, without a death,
  Past the sweet Virgin's picture, while his prayer he saith.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 10-27

         His prayer he saith, this patient, holy man;
         Then takes his lamp, and riseth from his knees,
         And back returneth, meagre, barefoot, wan,
         Along the chapel aisle by slow degrees:
         The sculptur'd dead, on each side, seem to freeze,
         Emprison'd in black, purgatorial rails:
         Knights, ladies, praying in dumb orat'ries,
         He passeth by; and his weak spirit fails
  To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails.
         Northward he turneth through a little door,
         And scarce three steps, ere Music's golden tongue
         Flatter'd to tears this aged man and poor;
         But no—already had his deathbell rung;
         The joys of all his life were said and sung:
         His was harsh penance on St. Agnes' Eve:
         Another way he went, and soon among
         Rough ashes sat he for his soul's reprieve,
  And all night kept awake, for sinners' sake to grieve.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 28-36

         That ancient Beadsman heard the prelude soft;
         And so it chanc'd, for many a door was wide,
         From hurry to and fro. Soon, up aloft,
         The silver, snarling trumpets 'gan to chide:
         The level chambers, ready with their pride,
         Were glowing to receive a thousand guests:
         The carved angels, ever eager-eyed,
         Star'd, where upon their heads the cornice rests,
  With hair blown back, and wings put cross-wise on their breasts.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 37-45

         At length burst in the argent revelry,
         With plume, tiara, and all rich array,
         Numerous as shadows haunting faerily
         The brain, new stuff'd, in youth, with triumphs gay
         Of old romance. These let us wish away,
         And turn, sole-thoughted, to one Lady there,
         Whose heart had brooded, all that wintry day,
         On love, and wing'd St. Agnes' saintly care,
  As she had heard old dames full many times declare.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 46-54

         They told her how, upon St. Agnes' Eve,
         Young virgins might have visions of delight,
         And soft adorings from their loves receive
         Upon the honey'd middle of the night,
         If ceremonies due they did aright;
         As, supperless to bed they must retire,
         And couch supine their beauties, lily white;
         Nor look behind, nor sideways, but require
  Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 55-72

  Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline:
         The music, yearning like a God in pain,
         She scarcely heard: her maiden eyes divine,
         Fix'd on the floor, saw many a sweeping train
         Pass by—she heeded not at all: in vain
         Came many a tiptoe, amorous cavalier,
         And back retir'd, not cool'd by high disdain;
         But she saw not: her heart was otherwhere:
  She sigh'd for Agnes' dreams, the sweetest of the year.
         She danc'd along with vague, regardless eyes,
         Anxious her lips, her breathing quick and short:
         The hallow'd hour was near at hand: she sighs
         Amid the timbrels, and the throng'd resort
         Of whisperers in anger, or in sport;
         'Mid looks of love, defiance, hate, and scorn,
         Hoodwink'd with faery fancy; all amort,
         Save to St. Agnes and her lambs unshorn,
  And all the bliss to be before to-morrow morn.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 73-81

         So, purposing each moment to retire,
         She linger'd still. Meantime, across the moors,
         Had come young Porphyro, with heart on fire
         For Madeline. Beside the portal doors,
         Buttress'd from moonlight, stands he, and implores
         All saints to give him sight of Madeline,
         But for one moment in the tedious hours,
         That he might gaze and worship all unseen;
  Perchance speak, kneel, touch, kiss—in sooth such things have been.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 82-90

         He ventures in: let no buzz'd whisper tell:
         All eyes be muffled, or a hundred swords
         Will storm his heart, Love's fev'rous citadel:
         For him, those chambers held barbarian hordes,
         Hyena foemen, and hot-blooded lords,
         Whose very dogs would execrations howl
         Against his lineage: not one breast affords
         Him any mercy, in that mansion foul,
  Save one old beldame, weak in body and in soul.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 91-108

         Ah, happy chance! the aged creature came,
         Shuffling along with ivory-headed wand,
         To where he stood, hid from the torch's flame,
         Behind a broad half-pillar, far beyond
         The sound of merriment and chorus bland:
         He startled her; but soon she knew his face,
         And grasp'd his fingers in her palsied hand,
         Saying, "Mercy, Porphyro! hie thee from this place;
  They are all here to-night, the whole blood-thirsty race!
         "Get hence! get hence! there's dwarfish Hildebrand;
         He had a fever late, and in the fit
         He cursed thee and thine, both house and land:
         Then there's that old Lord Maurice, not a whit
         More tame for his gray hairs—Alas me! flit!
         Flit like a ghost away."—"Ah, Gossip dear,
         We're safe enough; here in this arm-chair sit,
         And tell me how"—"Good Saints! not here, not here;
  Follow me, child, or else these stones will be thy bier."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 109-126

         He follow'd through a lowly arched way,
         Brushing the cobwebs with his lofty plume,
         And as she mutter'd "Well-a—well-a-day!"
         He found him in a little moonlight room,
         Pale, lattic'd, chill, and silent as a tomb.
         "Now tell me where is Madeline," said he,
         "O tell me, Angela, by the holy loom
         Which none but secret sisterhood may see,
  When they St. Agnes' wool are weaving piously."
         "St. Agnes! Ah! it is St. Agnes' Eve—
         Yet men will murder upon holy days:
         Thou must hold water in a witch's sieve,
         And be liege-lord of all the Elves and Fays,
         To venture so: it fills me with amaze
         To see thee, Porphyro!—St. Agnes' Eve!
         God's help! my lady fair the conjuror plays
         This very night: good angels her deceive!
  But let me laugh awhile, I've mickle time to grieve."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 127-135

         Feebly she laugheth in the languid moon,
         While Porphyro upon her face doth look,
         Like puzzled urchin on an aged crone
         Who keepeth clos'd a wond'rous riddle-book,
         As spectacled she sits in chimney nook.
         But soon his eyes grew brilliant, when she told
         His lady's purpose; and he scarce could brook
         Tears, at the thought of those enchantments cold,
  And Madeline asleep in lap of legends old.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 136-144

         Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose,
         Flushing his brow, and in his pained heart
         Made purple riot: then doth he propose
         A stratagem, that makes the beldame start:
         "A cruel man and impious thou art:
         Sweet lady, let her pray, and sleep, and dream
         Alone with her good angels, far apart
         From wicked men like thee. Go, go!—I deem
  Thou canst not surely be the same that thou didst seem."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 145-162

         "I will not harm her, by all saints I swear,"
         Quoth Porphyro: "O may I ne'er find grace
         When my weak voice shall whisper its last prayer,
         If one of her soft ringlets I displace,
         Or look with ruffian passion in her face:
         Good Angela, believe me by these tears;
         Or I will, even in a moment's space,
         Awake, with horrid shout, my foemen's ears,
  And beard them, though they be more fang'd than wolves and bears."
         "Ah! why wilt thou affright a feeble soul?
         A poor, weak, palsy-stricken, churchyard thing,
         Whose passing-bell may ere the midnight toll;
         Whose prayers for thee, each morn and evening,
         Were never miss'd."—Thus plaining, doth she bring
         A gentler speech from burning Porphyro;
         So woful, and of such deep sorrowing,
         That Angela gives promise she will do
  Whatever he shall wish, betide her weal or woe.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 163-171

         Which was, to lead him, in close secrecy,
         Even to Madeline's chamber, and there hide
         Him in a closet, of such privacy
         That he might see her beauty unespy'd,
         And win perhaps that night a peerless bride,
         While legion'd faeries pac'd the coverlet,
         And pale enchantment held her sleepy-ey'd.
         Never on such a night have lovers met,
  Since Merlin paid his Demon all the monstrous debt.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 172-189

         "It shall be as thou wishest," said the Dame:
         "All cates and dainties shall be stored there
         Quickly on this feast-night: by the tambour frame
         Her own lute thou wilt see: no time to spare,
         For I am slow and feeble, and scarce dare
         On such a catering trust my dizzy head.
         Wait here, my child, with patience; kneel in prayer
         The while: Ah! thou must needs the lady wed,
  Or may I never leave my grave among the dead."
         So saying, she hobbled off with busy fear.
         The lover's endless minutes slowly pass'd;
         The dame return'd, and whisper'd in his ear
         To follow her; with aged eyes aghast
         From fright of dim espial. Safe at last,
         Through many a dusky gallery, they gain
         The maiden's chamber, silken, hush'd, and chaste;
         Where Porphyro took covert, pleas'd amain.
  His poor guide hurried back with agues in her brain.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 190-198

         Her falt'ring hand upon the balustrade,
         Old Angela was feeling for the stair,
         When Madeline, St. Agnes' charmed maid,
         Rose, like a mission'd spirit, unaware:
         With silver taper's light, and pious care,
         She turn'd, and down the aged gossip led
         To a safe level matting. Now prepare,
         Young Porphyro, for gazing on that bed;
  She comes, she comes again, like ring-dove fray'd and fled.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 199-207

         Out went the taper as she hurried in;
         Its little smoke, in pallid moonshine, died:
         She clos'd the door, she panted, all akin
         To spirits of the air, and visions wide:
         No uttered syllable, or, woe betide!
         But to her heart, her heart was voluble,
         Paining with eloquence her balmy side;
         As though a tongueless nightingale should swell
  Her throat in vain, and die, heart-stifled, in her dell.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 208-216

         A casement high and triple-arch'd there was,
         All garlanded with carven imag'ries
         Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass,
         And diamonded with panes of quaint device,
         Innumerable of stains and splendid dyes,
         As are the tiger-moth's deep-damask'd wings;
         And in the midst, 'mong thousand heraldries,
         And twilight saints, and dim emblazonings,
  A shielded scutcheon blush'd with blood of queens and kings.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 217-225

         Full on this casement shone the wintry moon,
         And threw warm gules on Madeline's fair breast,
         As down she knelt for heaven's grace and boon;
         Rose-bloom fell on her hands, together prest,
         And on her silver cross soft amethyst,
         And on her hair a glory, like a saint:
         She seem'd a splendid angel, newly drest,
         Save wings, for heaven:—Porphyro grew faint:
  She knelt, so pure a thing, so free from mortal taint.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 226-234

         Anon his heart revives: her vespers done,
         Of all its wreathed pearls her hair she frees;
         Unclasps her warmed jewels one by one;
         Loosens her fragrant boddice; by degrees
         Her rich attire creeps rustling to her knees:
         Half-hidden, like a mermaid in sea-weed,
         Pensive awhile she dreams awake, and sees,
         In fancy, fair St. Agnes in her bed,
  But dares not look behind, or all the charm is fled.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 235-243

         Soon, trembling in her soft and chilly nest,
         In sort of wakeful swoon, perplex'd she lay,
         Until the poppied warmth of sleep oppress'd
         Her soothed limbs, and soul fatigued away;
         Flown, like a thought, until the morrow-day;
         Blissfully haven'd both from joy and pain;
         Clasp'd like a missal where swart Paynims pray;
         Blinded alike from sunshine and from rain,
  As though a rose should shut, and be a bud again.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 244-252

         Stol'n to this paradise, and so entranced,
         Porphyro gaz'd upon her empty dress,
         And listen'd to her breathing, if it chanced
         To wake into a slumberous tenderness;
         Which when he heard, that minute did he bless,
         And breath'd himself: then from the closet crept,
         Noiseless as fear in a wide wilderness,
         And over the hush'd carpet, silent, stept,
  And 'tween the curtains peep'd, where, lo!—how fast she slept.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 253-261

         Then by the bed-side, where the faded moon
         Made a dim, silver twilight, soft he set
         A table, and, half anguish'd, threw thereon
         A cloth of woven crimson, gold, and jet:—
         O for some drowsy Morphean amulet!
         The boisterous, midnight, festive clarion,
         The kettle-drum, and far-heard clarionet,
         Affray his ears, though but in dying tone:—
  The hall door shuts again, and all the noise is gone.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 262-270

         And still she slept an azure-lidded sleep,
         In blanched linen, smooth, and lavender'd,
         While he forth from the closet brought a heap
         Of candied apple, quince, and plum, and gourd;
         With jellies soother than the creamy curd,
         And lucent syrops, tinct with cinnamon;
         Manna and dates, in argosy transferr'd
         From Fez; and spiced dainties, every one,
  From silken Samarcand to cedar'd Lebanon.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 271-279

         These delicates he heap'd with glowing hand
         On golden dishes and in baskets bright
         Of wreathed silver: sumptuous they stand
         In the retired quiet of the night,
         Filling the chilly room with perfume light.—
         "And now, my love, my seraph fair, awake!
         Thou art my heaven, and I thine eremite:
         Open thine eyes, for meek St. Agnes' sake,
  Or I shall drowse beside thee, so my soul doth ache."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 280-288

         Thus whispering, his warm, unnerved arm
         Sank in her pillow. Shaded was her dream
         By the dusk curtains:—'twas a midnight charm
         Impossible to melt as iced stream:
         The lustrous salvers in the moonlight gleam;
         Broad golden fringe upon the carpet lies:
         It seem'd he never, never could redeem
         From such a stedfast spell his lady's eyes;
  So mus'd awhile, entoil'd in woofed phantasies.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 289-297

         Awakening up, he took her hollow lute,—
         Tumultuous,—and, in chords that tenderest be,
         He play'd an ancient ditty, long since mute,
         In Provence call'd, "La belle dame sans mercy":
         Close to her ear touching the melody;—
         Wherewith disturb'd, she utter'd a soft moan:
         He ceas'd—she panted quick—and suddenly
         Her blue affrayed eyes wide open shone:
  Upon his knees he sank, pale as smooth-sculptured stone.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 298-306

         Her eyes were open, but she still beheld,
         Now wide awake, the vision of her sleep:
         There was a painful change, that nigh expell'd
         The blisses of her dream so pure and deep
         At which fair Madeline began to weep,
         And moan forth witless words with many a sigh;
         While still her gaze on Porphyro would keep;
         Who knelt, with joined hands and piteous eye,
  Fearing to move or speak, she look'd so dreamingly.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 307-315

         "Ah, Porphyro!" said she, "but even now
         Thy voice was at sweet tremble in mine ear,
         Made tuneable with every sweetest vow;
         And those sad eyes were spiritual and clear:
         How chang'd thou art! how pallid, chill, and drear!
         Give me that voice again, my Porphyro,
         Those looks immortal, those complainings dear!
         Oh leave me not in this eternal woe,
  For if thou diest, my Love, I know not where to go."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 316-324

         Beyond a mortal man impassion'd far
         At these voluptuous accents, he arose
         Ethereal, flush'd, and like a throbbing star
         Seen mid the sapphire heaven's deep repose;
         Into her dream he melted, as the rose
         Blendeth its odour with the violet,—
         Solution sweet: meantime the frost-wind blows
         Like Love's alarum pattering the sharp sleet
  Against the window-panes; St. Agnes' moon hath set.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 325-333

         'Tis dark: quick pattereth the flaw-blown sleet:
         "This is no dream, my bride, my Madeline!"
         'Tis dark: the iced gusts still rave and beat:
         "No dream, alas! alas! and woe is mine!
         Porphyro will leave me here to fade and pine.—
         Cruel! what traitor could thee hither bring?
         I curse not, for my heart is lost in thine,
         Though thou forsakest a deceived thing;—
  A dove forlorn and lost with sick unpruned wing."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 334-342

         "My Madeline! sweet dreamer! lovely bride!
         Say, may I be for aye thy vassal blest?
         Thy beauty's shield, heart-shap'd and vermeil dyed?
         Ah, silver shrine, here will I take my rest
         After so many hours of toil and quest,
         A famish'd pilgrim,—saved by miracle.
         Though I have found, I will not rob thy nest
         Saving of thy sweet self; if thou think'st well
  To trust, fair Madeline, to no rude infidel.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 343-351

         "Hark! 'tis an elfin-storm from faery land,
         Of haggard seeming, but a boon indeed:
         Arise—arise! the morning is at hand;—
         The bloated wassaillers will never heed:—
         Let us away, my love, with happy speed;
         There are no ears to hear, or eyes to see,—
         Drown'd all in Rhenish and the sleepy mead:
         Awake! arise! my love, and fearless be,
  For o'er the southern moors I have a home for thee."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 352-360

         She hurried at his words, beset with fears,
         For there were sleeping dragons all around,
         At glaring watch, perhaps, with ready spears—
         Down the wide stairs a darkling way they found.—
         In all the house was heard no human sound.
         A chain-droop'd lamp was flickering by each door;
         The arras, rich with horseman, hawk, and hound,
         Flutter'd in the besieging wind's uproar;
  And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 361-369

         They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall;
         Like phantoms, to the iron porch, they glide;
         Where lay the Porter, in uneasy sprawl,
         With a huge empty flaggon by his side:
         The wakeful bloodhound rose, and shook his hide,
         But his sagacious eye an inmate owns:
         By one, and one, the bolts full easy slide:—
         The chains lie silent on the footworn stones;—
  The key turns, and the door upon its hinges groans.

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 370-378

         And they are gone: ay, ages long ago
         These lovers fled away into the storm.
         That night the Baron dreamt of many a woe,
         And all his warrior-guests, with shade and form
         Of witch, and demon, and large coffin-worm,
         Were long be-nightmar'd. Angela the old
         Died palsy-twitch'd, with meagre face deform;
         The Beadsman, after thousand aves told,
  For aye unsought for slept among his ashes cold.

  

  

  

  

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“The Eve of St. Agnes” Symbols

• 

  Statues and Carvings

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  Porphyro's Feast

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  Warmth and Cold

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• 

  The Stained Glass Window

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“The Eve of St. Agnes” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Allusion

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• Imagery

  

  

  

  

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• Juxtaposition

  

  

  

  

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• Repetition

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Personification

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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“The Eve of St. Agnes” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• St. Agnes' Eve
• The Flock in Woolly Fold
• Beadsman
• Rosary
• Pious
• Incense
• Censer
• The Sweet Virgin's Picture
• Saith
• Meagre
• Sculptur'd Dead
• Purgatorial
• Dumb Orat'ries
• Mails
• Flatter'd
• Penance
• Reprieve
• Prelude
• Chambers
• Cornice
• The Argent Revelry
• Faerily
• Triumphs Gay of Old Romance
• Sole-thoughted
• Brooded
• Dames
• Honey'd
• Couch Supine
• Whim
• Sweeping Train
• In Vain
• Amorous Cavalier
• Disdain
• Otherwhere
• Vague, Regardless Eyes
• Hallow'd
• Timbrels
• The Throng'd Resort of Whisperers
• 'Mid
• Hoodwink'd with Faery Fancy
• Amort
• Purposing
• Moors
• Buttress'd
• Implores
• Tedious
• Perchance
• In Sooth
• Muffled
• Fev'rous Citadel
• Hyena Foemen
• Execrations
• Lineage
• Beldame
• Bland
• Palsied
• Hie Thee From This Place
• Dwarfish
• Gossip
• Bier
• Lattic'd
• Water in a Witch's Sieve
• Mickle
• Urchin
• Crone
• Chimney Nook
• Brook
• Stratagem
• Impious
• Quoth
• Ruffian
• Foemen
• Beard Them
• Plaining
• Betide Her Weal or Woe
• Close
• Peerless
• While Legion'd Faeries Pac'd the Coverlet
• Merlin and his Demon
• Cates and Dainties
• Tambour Frame
• Catering
• Aghast
• Espial
• Dusky Gallery
• Covert
• Amain
• Agues
• Falt'ring
• Balustrade
• Silver Taper
• Safe Level Matting
• Ring-dove Fray'd and Fled
• Pallid
• Voluble
• Balmy
• Casement
• Diamonded with Panes of Quaint Device
• Innumerable of Stains and Splendid Dyes
• Deep-Damask'd
• Heraldries
• Emblazonings
• Scutcheon
• Gules
• Boon
• Taint
• Anon
• Vespers
• Boddice
• Pensive
• Swoon
• Poppied
• Missal
• Swart Paynims
• Morphean Amulet
• Clarion
• Affray
• Blanched Linen, Smooth, and Lavender'd
• Quince
• Jellies Soother than the Creamy Curd
• Lucent Syrups, Tinct with Cinnamon
• Manna and Dates
• Silken Samarcand to Cedar'd Lebanon
• Seraph
• Eremite
• Unnerved
• Lustrous Salvers
• Entoil'd in Woofed Phantasies
• Tumultuous
• La Belle Dame Sans Mercy
• Tuneable
• Complainings
• Voluptuous Accents
• Ethereal
• Solution
• Rave
• Forsakest
• Vassal
• Vermeil
• Pilgrim
• Infidel
• Haggard
• Wassailers
• Rhenish and the Sleepy Mead
• Darkling
• Arras
• Besieging
• Porter
• Flaggon
• Sagacious
• Inmate
• Shade
• Aves
• For Aye Unsought For

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “The Eve of St. Agnes”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“The Eve of St. Agnes” Speaker

“The Eve of St. Agnes” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “The Eve of St. Agnes”

More “The Eve of St. Agnes” Resources

• External Resources

  • The Poem Out Loud — Listen to the poem read aloud (and introduced by one of Keats's many biographers).

  • The Keats-Shelley Memorial Association — Visit the website of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association, where you can learn more about Keats's life and work.

  • The Poem in Keats's Hand — Take a look at a manuscript copy of the poem in Keats's own handwriting—and learn more about how the poem was first written and published.

  • Keats's Imagery — Read a short passage from the great scholar Christopher Ricks's "Keats and Embarrassment, in which Ricks discusses the strange image of Madeline standing "like a mermaid in sea-weed."

  • A Brief Biography — Read about Keats's short, tragic life, and find links to more of his poetry.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by John Keats

  • A thing of beauty is a joy for ever (from Endymion)

  • Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art

  • In drear nighted December

  • La Belle Dame sans Merci

  • Lamia

  • Ode on a Grecian Urn

  • Ode on Indolence

  • Ode on Melancholy

  • Ode to a Nightingale

  • Ode to Psyche

  • On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

  • On Seeing the Elgin Marbles

  • On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again

  • On the Grasshopper and Cricket

  • On the Sea

  • This living hand, now warm and capable

  • To Autumn

  • To Sleep

  • When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be