“The Eve of St. Agnes” tells the fantastical story of a haunting night where two lovers consummate their relationship and elope. It takes place on St. Agnes' Eve, a night when "young virgins have visions of joy", giving the action of the poem a dreamlike and supernatural quality. But as the romance unfolds that evening, the setting is a cold, dark castle (probably between the 12th and 16th centuries) during a "freezing cold" in the dead of night. These two elements of the setting contradict each other, the bewitched night reflecting the unreal and fantastic aspects of their affair, and the cold and rigid castle embodying the external forces which oppose their romance in reality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayKeats's portrait of an idealized romance and dream offers an environment steeped in the mysterious and the miraculous, but threatens to collapse at any moment through glimpses of the banished elements of reality. Keats uses images of mystery, adventure, and the unknown to enhance the fairy tale atmosphere of the poem. Throughout each stanza, Keats demonstrates the importance of setting, time and atmosphere, without ever truly lifting the veil of mystery. The progressively dramatic quality of this poem is achieved by a metamorphosis of sensations felt through the constantly changing settings, the poem's escalating action, and the emotional and sensual imagery. In the second line of the poem, Keats uses the image of the owl to set the tone of the mysterious and unknown. The owl is a nocturnal bird of prey that has sparked human curiosity for thousands of years, associated with wisdom and mysticism, and helping to establish a supernatural and romantic setting. With his striking images of "frozen grass, numb fingers" and "frosted breath", Keats adds to the chilling foreboding of the opening stanzas - only a hero or villain would venture into such harsh weather - preparing the reader to extraordinary events. The first stanza establishes the importance of time and legend in the poem. It is arguably this assessment of the past, coupled with Keats's reconstruction of a medieval romance, that allows him to look both to the present and to the future. Indeed, throughout the poem, time changes, moving from a story in the past to a resolutely dramatic present. “Anon his heart comes back to life; her vespers are done, / From all her braided pearls, she frees her hair, / Unfastens her warmed jewels one by one. » This abrupt change in time makes the poem much more moving, bringing the ancient legend to life. The style is reminiscent of authentic medieval literature, where there is much more emphasis on flowing prose than on diction and grammar, and where tenses are known to change within a single sentence. Keats begins the story in an abandoned castle chapel, empty of life. except for an emaciated, self-flagellating man of pearls who offers prayers to the Virgin on behalf of her wealthy benefactors. On the tombs of the chapel, “the sculpted dead, on each side, seem frozen, / Imprisoned in purgatorial black rails”. The knights and ladies of these family monuments were carved in pious poses, "praying in silent oratories." The frozen depictions of these long-dead relatives present a dual image of death, and therefore we see a lack of spirituality in the hatter's prayers; he was paid to say these prayers in order to save the souls of the ungodly, who will probably only pray in their mortuary friezes. The austere Gothic interior of the castle does not represent ahoped for regeneration, but a series of “sculpted images” of the time. " 'death carved." This castle is the setting, not for the rejuvenation of love, but for the reenactment of an old legend in an attempt to translate the "old romance" into the present. Madeline and Porphyro form a young cursed couple, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. : they seek to hide their relationship from their families and protect their love from “sleeping dragons” and “ready spears”. Their love is hampered by a family feud, and Madeline fears that Porphyro will be killed by his relatives, a "bloodthirsty race." Madeline performs the rite of Saint Agnes according to legend, and Porphyro's expression of love for Madeline is echoed. an “old ditty, long since mute” (291). When Madeline retires to her bedroom, the tone takes on an element of fantasy, and Keats wants us to feel the "charm" of the air on a night that belongs to the spirits; the room is filled with fleeting moonlight, creating a “dark, silvery twilight” and enhancing the magical qualities of the night. Madeline is described alternately as "like a saint: she seemed a splendid angel", "like a mermaid in seaweed" and like a "rose". The fact that Porphyro invades his privacy is compensated by the adoration with which he contemplates this vision. Although he secretly watches her from the closet, it is under the guise of an adoring and enchanted admirer rather than a voyeur. Madeline has enchanted dreams of the “beautiful St. Agnes,” and in this aura of fantasy and mysticism, Porphyro steals the attention. hides in his closet and "plays an old song" on the lute. She wakes up and there is a "painful change,... expelling the joys of her dream so pure and deep." She realizes that life is "eternal misery" as the danger of their situation replaces her idyllic dream. Madeline's dream experience reveals a consciousness of dissatisfaction, reflecting her desire for an idealized "old romance", preferring her own imaginatively created Porphyro to his actual presence. . "How changed you are! how pale, cold and sad you are! / Give me back that voice, my Porphyro, / those immortal looks, those darling complaints!" Even upon waking, Madeline longs not for Porphyro's real voice, but for her own dream representation of his voice and identity. When Madeline wakes up, the physical framework of the poem exceeds the spiritual framework. Keats describes a sumptuous feast of “delights…on golden dishes…filling the room with fragrant light.” He introduces more sensual imagery, incorporating taste and smell to symbolize the physicality of the previously chaste young couple. As "in his dream he melted...the rose mixed its scent with the violet, a sweet solution", the richly scented image describes their union. But with the onslaught of physical sensations, they also become more aware of the "icy wind that blows like the alarm of love crackling on the window panes." Keats implies the risks they must take in leaving the spiritual world to enjoy the physical world. The young lovers must face the reality of their situation; they risk not only censorship, but also Porphyro's certain death if they are discovered. The tone and imagery changes dramatically as they "glide like ghosts" through the castle; they flee as if escaping from prison, sneaking past the "waking bloodhound" and the sleeping porter. The tapestries, “rich in riders, hawks and dogs”, seem to “float”, as if the walls themselves were alive and staring at them with menace. These disturbing images help to make the external storm seem like the lesser of two evils, even though Keats goes out of his way to emphasize its "..