The Eve of St. Agnes
Sensuality and Sensual Imagery in The Eve of St. Agnes"
The Eve of St. Agnes opens in a cold, desolate chapel where the reader is presented with religious imagery: the Beadsman, the rosary, the pious incense and picture of the Virgin Mary. The Beadsman is a stark contrast to the other characters because he rejects worldly pleasures and is in constant isolation so that he may grieve for "sinner's sake" - perhaps for Madeline and her sins? The cold, silver, religious imagery occurs throughout the poem to contrast against the warm, colorful, sensual imagery provoked by the main characters.
The story introduces Madeline in the seventh stanza as the virginal, maiden who is lost in daydreams of what awaits her when she goes to bed. Keats' diction in describing what "young virgins" can hope for on St. Agnes Eve adds to the sensual imagery of the poem. Words such as delight and honey'd create a sweet, pleasurable effect on the tone of the passage. Madeline is so anxious for her blissfuldreams that she loses touch with reality; stanza VI foreshadows her later delusion when Porphyro is in her bedroom.
The scene then changes to Porphyro, the "gallant knight" commonly found in medieval romanticpoetry who will risk his life to see his true love. The word porphyro means purple and the character is described as having his "heart on fire" which immediately presents the tension in the poem. Up until this point everything has been cold and dreamlike but Porphyro is warm, passionate and boldly aware of his surroundings. Madeline is characterized as divine and pure while her lover is worldly and at first "implores all saints to give him sight of Madeline" but then asks that he may "worship all unseen." His hasty and passionate prayers not only mock the religious imagery of the poem but they also add to the sensual imagery of the story. The effect of the imagery on the reader is to convey the message that Porphyro's actions are as hasty as his thoughts and that he will not stop with
The Eve of St. Agnes opens in a cold, desolate chapel where the reader is presented with religious imagery: the Beadsman, the rosary, the pious incense and picture of the Virgin Mary. The Beadsman is a stark contrast to the other characters because he rejects worldly pleasures and is in constant isolation so that he may grieve for "sinner's sake" - perhaps for Madeline and her sins? The cold, silver, religious imagery occurs throughout the poem to contrast against the warm, colorful, sensual imagery provoked by the main characters.
The story introduces Madeline in the seventh stanza as the virginal, maiden who is lost in daydreams of what awaits her when she goes to bed. Keats' diction in describing what "young virgins" can hope for on St. Agnes Eve adds to the sensual imagery of the poem. Words such as delight and honey'd create a sweet, pleasurable effect on the tone of the passage. Madeline is so anxious for her blissfuldreams that she loses touch with reality; stanza VI foreshadows her later delusion when Porphyro is in her bedroom.
The scene then changes to Porphyro, the "gallant knight" commonly found in medieval romanticpoetry who will risk his life to see his true love. The word porphyro means purple and the character is described as having his "heart on fire" which immediately presents the tension in the poem. Up until this point everything has been cold and dreamlike but Porphyro is warm, passionate and boldly aware of his surroundings. Madeline is characterized as divine and pure while her lover is worldly and at first "implores all saints to give him sight of Madeline" but then asks that he may "worship all unseen." His hasty and passionate prayers not only mock the religious imagery of the poem but they also add to the sensual imagery of the story. The effect of the imagery on the reader is to convey the message that Porphyro's actions are as hasty as his thoughts and that he will not stop with