Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Sudden a thought came like a full-blown rose,
Flushing his brow, and in his pained heart
Made a 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. God, go!—I deem
Thou canst not surely be the same that thou didst seem."
- You know how in cartoons you see a lightbulb switching on over somebody's head when they get an idea? That's kind of what's happening with Porphyro in the first three lines here.
- Because it's Porphyro, our "heart ablaze" guy, the creation of his plan is described in really physical terms: the idea itself is a flower in full bloom that colors both his actual body ("flushing his brow") and his figurative body (painting his pained heart "a purple riot").
- Purple? Wait, why purple? Today we think of red as the famous color of passion and love, but back in the day writers frequently used purple to symbolize vitality, blood, sexuality, and all that other good stuff.
- And this isn't any old idea that P. Diddy has hatched—it's a crafty one: specifically, a "stratagem." It sounds more like Porphyro's playing chess than trying to hook up with his girlfriend, doesn't it?
- Porphyro lets Angela in on his plan, and boy… is she ever not thrilled.
- In short order, she calls him cruel, impious and wicked. Jinkies, that must have been some stratagem.
- And it's not just name calling: Angela also specifically accuses him of not being the thing he seemed to be. What was that, you wonder? Let's read on to find out…