Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil Key Quotes

‘A whole long month of May in this sad plight/ Made their cheeks paler by the break of June’

Stanza 4- this section of the poem describes Isabella and Lorenzo falling in love, despite their differences in social status. This quotation suggests that their love is causing them to be ill, demonstrating that their decision to fall in love will cause them to suffer. They are suffering from a passion that is forbidden.

‘they could not’

Stanza 1 - establishes how their love is doomed, as there are immediately restrictions to their relationship because of their differences in class

‘A dreary night of love and misery’

Stanza 7- this is more about Lorenzo’s suffering from not being able to tell Isabella how he feels. The contrast between ‘love’ and ‘misery’ foreshadows the fact that the two will soon be intertwined; Isabella will suffer greatly because of her love for Lorenzo.

‘believe how near/ My soul is to its doom’

Stanza 8- this eerily foreshadows Lorenzo’s death and how their mistake will be fatal. The reader is now aware that their love is doomed to fail.

‘summer clime……blossoms……ripe’

Stanza 9- summer imagery marks the beginning of the interlude of bliss that the lovers share, that is vulnerable to hostile forces.

‘Grew, like a lusty flower, in June’s caress'

Stanza 9- after it blooms it will die- Keats is opposing time and mortality to show us that their love is doomed to fail- tragic inevitability

‘too many’, ‘too much’

Stanza 12 - idea that their love is too good to be true

‘spring-bowers’ ‘poison-flowers’

Stanza 13- this rhyming couplet links the two words, perhaps representing reality vs their happiness. ‘Poison’ is symbolic of the danger that encompasses them despite their happiness, and foreshadows the presence of hostile forces (the brothers).

‘In blood from a stinging whip’

Stanza 14- at this point we are being introduced to the brothers, and Keats portrays them as classic tragic villains. They are shown to be cruel, greedy and power hungry, and their thirst for violence is shown through this quote.

‘marble founts’ ‘orange-mounts’ ‘red'-lined accounts’

Stanza 16- rhyming scheme links them- materialistic objects are described, highlighting their priorities.

‘To make the youngster for his crime atone’

Stanza 22- ‘youngster’ indicates age, naivety and innocence, something that the brothers exploit. His ‘crime’ seems to be his attempt to be outside his social standing, which has proved to be the lovers’ fatal error.

‘For they resolved in some forest dim to kill Lorenzo, and there bury him’

Stanza 22 - brothers have plotted to kill Lorenzo, and are clearly tragic villains here

‘So on a pleasant morning, as he leant/ Into the sunrise, o’er the balustrade/ Of the garden terrace’

Stanza 23- the brothers at this point are starting to plot to kill Lorenzo, and the ‘pleasant morning’ is ironic because of this. It also shows that he is blind and naive to his death, and represents a moment of euphoria before the fall’

‘Bowed a fair greeting to these serpents whine’

Stanza 24- compares the brothers to serpents, and is reminiscent of the garden of eden, and the deception

‘There was Lorenzo slain and buried in’

Stanza 28- this is a simple line to describe such a pivotal moment in the story, however Keats does this to focus more on the relationship between Isabella and Lorenzo, and the suffering caused by his death.

‘they dipped their swords into the water, and did tease’

Stanza 28 - they are cleaning their weapons, there is a sense that they will not come to justice

‘Had marred his glossy hair’

Stanza 35- idea of the fetishising of the head beginning to develop, and tragic obsession. Decomposition imagery represents the decay of their relationship.

‘Had made a miry channel for his tears’

Stanza 35 - suffering because of their relationship, also the gothic natural imagery

‘of pride and avarice’

Stanza 37 - villainous traits of the brothers - they are the hostile external forces that have brought down the great love

‘it made sad Isabella’s eyelids ache’

Stanza 41- Idea of suffering and grief, now that she knows Lorenzo is dead. She is also becoming detached from reality.

‘dismal forest hearse’

Stanza 43 - comparison of the forest to a funeral home - idea of hostility of nature

‘What feverous hectic flame/ Burns in thee child?’

Stanza 44- Nurse says this to Isabella, idea of tragic rage brought on by the death of Lorenzo, and how this led to her prolonging her grief by bringing the head home instead of processing it.

‘‘twas love - cold, dead indeed, but not dethroned’

Stanza 50 - error of judgement to let the love become overpowering - it is this love and grief that results in the death of Isabella

‘And she forgot the stars, the moon and sun’

Stanza 53- obsessive love and blindness- Isabella has become completely detached from reality because of her grief

‘From the fast mouldering head there shut from view’

Stanza 54- idea of quickly decaying love and inevitability of Isabella’s death

‘The jewel, safely casketed’

Stanza 54- this shows that there is still a threat from the hostile external forces, and that the tragedy is not over

‘Why she sat drooping by the basil green’

Stanza 58- she is almost compared with the plant- become part of it an dissolved from the world of man.

‘For Isabel, sweet Isabel will die’

Stanza 61- inevitability, repetition creates a sense of prolonged suffering

‘Yet they contrived to steal the basil pot’

Stanza 60 - brothers have one final act as tragic villains to destroy the love, which contributes to Isabella’s death

‘away they went, with blood upon their heads, to banishment’

Stanza 60 - even though they have ‘blood upon their heads’, there is no sense of justice, and there is no punishment for them despite what they have done

‘O cruelty,/ To steal my basil pot away from me!’

Stanza 63- there is a release, however no anagnorisis, and Isabella dies longing for her pot of basil