TEOSA analysis Flashcards
(8 cards)
The statues and carvings in “The Eve of St. Agnes” symbolize two things: ….
… the chilly inevitability of death, and the immortalizing power of art.
What can be inferred from the description of Porphyro as “pale as smooth-sculptured stone”?
- He will not fade; he is an immortal lover perhaps.
- Madeline mistakenly thinks he has died when she sees him
What can be inferred from the feast P prepares?
- All of the foods that Porphyro lays out are sweet, rich, scented, and exotic. Everything is “sooth[]” (or smooth) and “creamy,” “candied” and “spiced.” This banquet appeals to every sense including hearing: “From silken Samarcand to cedar’d Lebanon.”
- He provides only “dainties”, delectable luxuries. Porphyro is inviting Madeline to revel in pleasure with him, immersing herself in the world of the senses. Could also be a symbol of his own insubstantiality.
What is significant about the juxtaposition of hot and cold?
There is a “bitter chill” that surrounds Madeline and Porphyro’s “heart[s] on fire.” That chill is often associated with the elderly and the dead: the “icy hoods and mails” of the people carved on the stone tombs, the “ashes cold” in which the Beadsman dies.
- They are ‘flushed’ and Madeline wears jewels ‘warmed’ by her skin.
- The passions of youth are inevitably extinguished.
Whose form/style influenced the poem?
- Spenser, it is written in Spenserian stanzas
- A nine-line stanza that uses eight lines of iambic pentameter and one line of iambic hexameter.
- ABABBCBCC
- medieval romance
How is the stained-glass window described?
“the arras, rich with horseman, haw, and hound, / Flutter’d in the besieging wind’s uproar; / And the long carpets rose along the gusty floor,”
- Another testament to art’s longevityH
How have some critics interpreted the poem?
A confession of his love for Fanny Brawne. Written shortly after they fell in love. He maybe felt their love was a bright spark against a dull world, and had maybe felt like a voyeur for so long: aware of her presence, but never interacting with her tangibly.
