Around St. Agnes' Eve, which is the night before the Feast of St. Agnes
on January 21, and which corresponds to the Scotch "Hallowe'en," there
grew up the superstition that a maiden could, by observing certain
traditional precautions, have in her sleep a vision of her future
husband. Perhaps the most common way to obtain this vision was for the
girl to go to sleep on her back with her hands behind her head; then at
midnight she would dream that her lover came and kissed her. This is the
superstition that Keats has made use of in _The Eve of St. Agnes_.
St. Agnes was a Roman girl, who at thirteen was loved by the son of a
Roman prefect, but, however, being like her parents a Christian and
having vowed virginity, she told her lover that she was already
betrothed. The youth, thinking he had some earthly rival, as a result
fell so very sick that his father tried to intercede with the girl's
parents. When he found these people were Christians, he tried to compel
Agnes to become a vestal virgin or marry his son. Agnes, because she
refused to do either of these things, was dragged to the altar, but
because here, by her prayers, she restored to her lover the sight which
he had lost, she was set free by the Prefect. The people, however, tried
to burn her, but were themselves consumed in the fire, until finally one
of their number slew her with his sword. A few days after her death, her
parents had a vision of her, surrounded by angels and accompanied by a
lamb (Agnus Dei). After her canonization it was customary to sacrifice
on St. Agnes' Day, during the singing, two lambs whose wool the next day
was woven by the nuns into pallia for the archbishops. (Cf. I. 115,
117.) Cf. _Agnus_ and _Agnes_.
[143] 5. =Beadsman.= =Bead= originally meant prayer; hence "to say one's
beads." A beadsman was an inmate of an almshouse who was bound to pray
for the founders of the house. In Shakespeare the word is used to denote
one who prays for another.
[144] 31. =Snarling.= Does this verse resemble the sound described? What
is the name of this figure?
[145] 40. =New-stuffed.= What does this mean here?
[146] 46. =St. Agnes' Eve.= See Introductory Note.
[147] 70. =Amort= (Fr. à la mort); lifeless, spiritless.
[148] 71. =Lambs.= See Introductory Note.
[149] 75. =Porphyro= (Gr. _porphyro_ = a purple fish, purple). Why did
Keats choose this name instead of Lionel, as he first intended?
[150] 77. =Buttress'd= means supported, but here it must mean protected
from; _i.e._ Porphyro was in the shadow of the buttress.
[151] 81. =Sooth=; truth. Cf. _soothsayer_.
[152] 86. =Hyena.= Find out the characteristics of this animal, and see
what the force of the epithet is here.
[153] 90. =Beldame= (_bel + dame_) originally meant a fair lady, then
grandmother and, in general, old woman or hag.
[154] 105. =Gossip= originally meant a sponsor at baptism (_God-sib_),
then a boon companion, and finally a tattler.
[155] 115. =Holy loom.= See Introductory Note.
[156] 120. =Witch's sieve.= This refers to the superstition that witches
could hold water in sieves and could sail in them. Cf. _Macbeth_, I. 3.
1, 8:--
"But in a sieve I'll thither sail,
And, like a rat without a tail,
I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do."
[157] 126. =Mickle=; much.
[158] 135. =Lap.= "Madeline is asleep in her bed; but she is also asleep
in accordance with the legends of the season; and therefore the bed
becomes their lap as well as sleep's."
--LEIGH HUNT.
[159] 138. How make =purple riot= in his heart?
[160] 171. =Merlin= was the sorcerer in Arthur's court. Vivien succeeded
in getting from him a secret by which she shut him up in a hollow tree.
See Tennyson's _Merlin and Vivien_. Malory has another version of the
story.
[161] 173. =Cates=; provisions,--especially rich, luxurious provisions.
Cf. _cater_, _caterer_.
[162] 174. =Tambour frame.= Tambour is a kind of drum; cf. _tambourine_.
A tambour frame is a round frame for holding material which is to be
embroidered.
[163] 208. =Casement high....= On these next three stanzas Keats spent
much time. They are considered beautiful description. Why?
[164] 214. =Heraldries= are coats of arms.
[165] 215. =Emblazonings=; colored heraldries.
[166] 218. =Gules=; the tincture red. In a shield without color gules is
indicated by vertical parallel lines.
[167] 241. =Missal=; a mass book for the year. What is the meaning of
this line? =Paynims=; pagans.
[168] 257. =Morphean.= Morpheus was the god of sleep.
[169] 262. =Azure-lidded sleep.= Note the different senses appealed to
in these next stanzas. Keats is called one of our most sensuous poets.
[170] 266. =Soother=; used here for _more soothing_.
[171] 267. What are =lucent syrops=? Note derivation.
[172] 277. =Eremite=; hermit.
[173] 292. Keats wrote a poem about this time called _La Belle Dame sans
Merci_.
[174] 346. =Wassailers= was a term originally used for men drinking each
other's health with the words _wes h[=a]l_, be whole.
[175] 375. Angela. Have the deaths of Angela and the Beadsman been
foretold?