Symbol Analysis
While it may be a love poem at its heart, "The Blessed Damozel" still has plenty of love for Christianity. That makes sense, really, when you consider that the title character in the poem is kicking it in heaven. She's definitely the pious, "blessed" type—and we're told this right from the get-go. In line 5, for example, we see her holding three lilies, meant to symbolize the Holy Trinity of the Father (God), the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. We also learn that she has seven stars in her hair, a reference to the description of Jesus Christ in Revelations 1.16.
Then, of course, we have all the physical details of heaven and God's kingdom, which sits "So high, that looking downward thence/ She [the damozel] scarce could see the sun" (29-30). Keeping the damsel company are the souls of reunited lovers, who "up to God/ Went by her like thin flames" (41-42). This simile reinforces the idea of the ascension of souls who make it to heaven, while the prospect of the damsel's lover staying back on Earth remains a problem for them both.
Nevertheless, the damsel is confident that she'll be able to convince Mary and Jesus to let her lover stay with her in heaven forever—whenever he gets there, that is. She fantasizes that one day he'll come to heaven, and then she'll take him to "lie i' the shadow of/ That living mystic tree/ Within whose secret growth the Dove/ Is sometimes felt to be" (85-88). This may sound like a chill picnic, but here she's referencing the Biblical tree of life, as well as the Holy Spirit as symbolized by the dove.
Throughout the poem, really, religious imagery is there to remind us of the spiritual umbrella under which the lovers' relationship plays out. (Check out "Themes" for more.)