"The Eve of St. Agnes" tells the fantastic story of a bewitching night in which two lovers consummate their relationship and run away. It takes place on the eve of St. Agnes, a night when "young virgins have visions of delight", giving the poem's action a dreamy, otherworldly quality. But as the love story unfolds this evening, the setting is a cold, gloomy castle (probably sometime between the 12th and 16th centuries) during a "biting cold" in the middle of the night. These two elements of the setting contradict each other, the enchanted night reflecting the unreal and fantastic aspects of their relationship, and the cold and rigid castle embodying the external forces that in reality oppose their love story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Keats's portrait of an idealized romance and dream offers an environment steeped in mystery and the miraculous, but threatens to unravel 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. In each stanza Keats demonstrates the importance of setting, time, and atmosphere, without ever fully lifting the veil of mystery. The progressively dramatic quality of this poem is achieved by a metamorphosis of sensations experienced through the ever-changing settings, the poem's escalating action, and emotional and sensual imagery. In the second line of the poem, Keats uses the image of the owl to set a mysterious and unknown tone. The owl is a nocturnal bird of prey that has attracted humanity's curiosity for thousands of years, is associated with wisdom and mysticism and helps create a supernatural and romantic setting. With his vivid imagery of “frozen grass, numb fingers,” and “frozen breath,” Keats adds to the chill foreboding of the opening stanzas—only a hero or villain would venture into such a harsh climate—preparing the reader for extraordinary events. The first stanza establishes the importance of time and legend within the poem. It is probably this appreciation of the past, combined with Keats's reconstruction of a medieval romance, that allows him to look to both the present and the future. Indeed, throughout much of the poem time is shown to change, moving from a narrative in the past to an emphatically dramatic present. "Immediately her heart revives; her vespers are over, / Of all the garlanded pearls she releases her hair, / Unties her heated jewels one by one." This abrupt change in tense makes the poem much more emotional, bringing the ancient legend back to life. The style calls to mind authentic medieval literature, where much more emphasis is placed on flowing prose than on diction and grammar, and tenses are known to change within a single sentence. Keats begins the narrative in an abandoned castle chapel, devoid of life. except for a wasted, self-flagellating Beadsman who offers prayers to the Virgin on behalf of his wealthy benefactors. On the chapel tombs, "the graven dead, on each side, seem to freeze, / Imprisoned in black rails of purgatory." The knights and ladies of these family monuments were sculpted in pious poses, "praying in silent oratories". The frozen representations of those long-dead relatives present a double image of death, and consequently we see a failure of spirituality in the bead man's prayers; he was paid to say these prayers to save the souls of the wicked, who will probably pray only in the friezes of death. The austere Gothic interior of the castle does notdepicts a hoped-for regeneration, but a series of "graven images" of the "sculpted dead." This castle is the setting, not for the rejuvenation of love, but for the re-enactment of an ancient legend in an attempt to translate the "old love story" into the present. Madeline and Porphyro are an unfortunate young couple, reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet. : They try to hide their relationship from their families and protect their love from "sleeping dragons" and "ready spears". Their love is hindered by a family feud and Madeline fears that Porphyro will be killed by his relatives, a "bloodthirsty race". Madeline celebrates the St. Agnes Eve ritual according to legend, and Porphyro's expression of love for Madeline echoes an "ancient little song, long silent" (291). When Madeline retreats to her bedroom, the tone takes on an element of fantasy, and Keats wants us to feel the "charm" in the air on a night that belongs to the spirits; the room is flooded with ephemeral moonlight, creating a "dim, silver twilight" and enhancing the magical qualities of the night. Madeline is described alternately as "like a saint: she looked like a splendid angel", "like a mermaid among the seaweed", and as a "rose". The fact that his privacy is invaded by Porphyro is counterbalanced by the adoration with which he witnesses this vision. Even if he watches her secretly from the closet, he is in 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 sneaks out of hiding in his closet and "plays an ancient ditty" on the lute. He wakes up and there is a "painful change, ... expelling the bliss of his dream so pure and profound." He realizes that life is "eternal pain" as the danger of their situation replaces his idyllic dream. Madeline's dream experience reveals an awareness of dissatisfaction, reflecting her desire for an idealized "old romance", preferring her fictionally created Porphyro to his actual presence. . "How you have changed! How pale, cold and gloomy! / Give me that voice again, my Porphyry, / those immortal looks, those dear laments!" Even while awake, Madeline longs not for Porphyro's real voice, but for the dreamlike representation of his voice and identity. Upon Madeline's awakening, the physical setting of the poem surpasses the spiritual one. Keats describes a sumptuous banquet of “delicacies…on golden plates…filling the room with perfumed light.” It 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 mixes 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 "cold wind that blows like Love's alarm clock tapping on the window panes." Keats implies the risks they must take when they leave the spiritual world to enjoy the physical one. The young lovers must face the reality of their circumstances; they risk not only censorship, but Porphyro's certain death once discovered. The tone and imagery changes considerably as they "glide like ghosts" through the castle; they sneak out as if escaping from prison, sneaking past the "awake hound" and the sleeping doorman. The tapestries, "full of knights, falcons and hounds", seem to "flutter", as if the walls themselves were alive and watching them with menace. These menacing images help make the external storm appear as the lesser of two evils, although Keats does everything he can to emphasize its "besieging mound." Although theirs..