The Eve of St. Agnes

(5) Tree Line

People will fight us this one, but we'd argue that this poem is a 7 pretending to be a 3. Solution? We compromise and give it a 5.

The thing is that this poem, much like a delicious cake (mmm, cake), has layers. The top few layers are pretty easy to get through. The language is a little old-timey, but not that hard to read. The plot, in big picture terms, is super-simple. The characters have about as much psychological depth as a glass of water. In fact, these top layers are so easy and direct that plenty of people think this poem is dumb.

We, on the other hand, think you can go deep down the rabbit hole with this one, because when you go beyond big picture terms and try to figure out how everything relates (try connecting the dots between imagination and dreams and visions and faery fancy) you realize that it's actually pretty difficult to parse what's happening and how it's happening.

Is it worth going through those extra layers? Absolutely. Yeah, you can passively drive through The Eve of St. Agnes and have a good time (it is, after all, a famously scenic ride), but it's the deeper stuff that makes The Eve of St. Agnes interesting. There. We said it. The Eve of St. Agnes is interesting.