The Eve of St. Agnes The Supernatural Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Line)

Quote #4

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;— (289-293)

Madeline isn't waking up as quickly as Porphyro had hoped, so he decides to play her some tunes to speed up the process. Keats would write his own "La Belle Dame sans Merci" a few months after writing this poem, but at the point at which he's writing "The Eve of Saint Agnes" the song title refers to a medieval French ballad about a chick who rejects her suitor. Now that's kind of weird, when you consider that Porphyro's probably banking on Madeline accepting him. Additionally, although the description of "long since mute" most obviously means "hasn't been played in a long time," it also retains the meaning of "silent," making it seem as though this song that Porphyro's playing isn't actually audible. So, in addition to being both "tumultuous" and "tenderest," the song is both mute and audible. In fact, Keats doesn't even tell us that Madeline hears the song; instead, he says that it "touches" her ear.

Quote #5

Into her dream he melted
[…] meantime the frost-wind blows
Like Love's alarum, pattering the sharp sleet
Against the window-panes; St. Agnes moon hath set. (320-323)

Right at the moment of consummation (whatever that consummation might be—choose your own poetic adventure) a funny thing happens: the moon of St. Agnes sets just as this huge storm starts pounding the castle. This storm, as we find out shortly, is an "elfin-storm from faery land" (344), which means that what essentially happened here is that the symbol of female chastity and power (the moon of St. Agnes) is replaced by the elfin-storm, trumpeting out a warning (the "alarum").

Quote #6

"Hark! 'tis an elfin-storm from faery land,
Of haggard seeming, but a boon indeed […]" (343-344)

Porphyro's trying to get Madeline up ASAP so they can get moving. He tries to reassure her by telling her that the storm outside, despite being "haggard seeming," is actually going to help them get away. The most obvious meaning is that a wild storm will help them escape undetected, but the fact that it's so clearly written as a magical storm opens up other interpretations. This entire night has felt supernaturally charmed, and it seems as though this "elfin-storm" isn't just going to do Porphyro and Madeline a solid by covering their tracks, but that it's actually going to be the escape. Porphyro can sweet-talk Madeline about his home across the moors all he wants, but it feels a lot like "faery land" is the real destination.