| Quote #4 She put my arm about her waist, (16) |
The speaker is so passive and apathetic that he just lets Porphyria move his arms around like a doll.
| Quote #5 I propped her head up as before, |
By the second half of the poem, the tables have turned: now Porphyria is the passive one (because she's dead), and the speaker moves her body around as though she were a doll.
| Quote #6 The smiling rosy little head, |
The speaker refers to Porphyria just as a "head" – an object, something that can't have a "will" of its own at all.