The Eve of St Agnes

"Ah, bitter chill it was!"

Cold, lacking life and warmth pathetic fallacy lack of warmth in humanity and life

"already had his deathbell rung"

Death can happen in a blink of an eye he's already going to die soon tragedy is apparant

"Of Heaven with upward eyes for all that they desire"

The ritual; making herself vulnerable. Madeline proceeds to follow all of these rules- ironic as the woman that followed the rituals for sexual fulfilment but Madeline is pure and innocent

"in vein came many a tip-toe amorous Cavalier"

Madeline is blind to all of her suitors she is trapped in idealism and ignores reality

"with heart on fire for Madeline"

Passionate intensity portrays porphyro as the tragic hero

"or a hundred swords will storm his heart"

If anyone sees him they'll kill him; hyperbole- he is very unliked by Madeline's family. Familial fued like Romeo and Juliet

"Ah, gossip dear, we're safe enough"

Porphyros hubris, telling him to leave because he'll die and he ignores it- this is his fatal flaw. Hamartia may not be bad but is responsible for the tragic demise of the character

"keepeth closed a wondrous riddle book"

Porphyro's desire for Madeleine is heightened by the fact that she's out of reach like a closed book but what he can't have is more appealing. Foreshadows the predatory behaviour porphyro shows to Madeleine

"I will not harm her, by all saints I swear"

Swears he will not hurt her- charms Angela into trusting him and makes us question whether he is a noble hero with pure intentions or simply deceptive

"burning Porphyro"

Passionate intensity is sustained

"She turned, and down the aged gossip lead to a safe level matting."

Woke up and help Angela down the stairs shows her caring nature and her purity

"toungless nightingale"

Philomel; myth about rape he raped her and cut her tongue out so she couldn't tell anyone- entrapment foreshadowing death. She then became a nightingale to escape and the man that raped her brother-in-law; her sister turned into a dove to fly away foreshadows her rape and inability to tell

"Of fruits, and flowers, and bunches of knot-grass"

Fruits is symbolic of fertility, flowers is symbolic of beauty, and knot-grass is symbolic of death fertility contrast death maybe to portray the contrasting relationship between Madeline and porphyro

"she seemed a splendid angel... save wings, for Heaven... she knelt, so pure a thing"

Emphasises her natural purity which is juxtaposed by the sensual striptease in the next stanza and her deflowering Keats blends sensual and St. saintly to create the unique tone of the poem

"And listened to her breathing"

Voyuerism- creepy

"And now, my love, my seraph fair, awake!"

Summoning her to wake up. Porphyro also equates her to all things heavenly and angelic but it doesnt stop him from taking her purity

"unnerved arm sank in her pillow"

invasion of privacy

"Her eyes were open... Now wide awake"

Reemphasises her eyes being open and accentuates the irony as she's really blind; limbic state not awake or asleep

"How changed thou art! How pallid, chill, and drear"

Doesn't understand why he looks so pale; thinks it's a vision and not actually him. Reality will never live up to ideas, contrasts what he thinks he is. All imagination is better than reality. Exclamatory reiterates their love is based on idealism

"like a throbbing star... Into her dream he melted"

They having sex. Irony- she's awake now, she's no longer dreaming; portrays his deception as he knows she's in a limbic state and he's using this to his advantage.

"Awake! arise! my love, and fearless be, For o'er the southern moors i have a home for thee"

It's been planning this the whole time and now has somewhere for them to escape to

"They glide, like phantoms, into the wide hall; like phantoms, to the iron porch, they glide"

Phantoms repeated they glide repeated portray secrecy

"these lovers fled away into the storm"

Theyre gone like phantoms, not to happiness

"Angela the old died" "The Beadsman... slept among his ashes cold"

Tragic ending they both died. Cyclical structure of life and death shown Beadmans prayers don't save him from death or Madeleine from Shame