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Stanza 19 Summary

Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.

Which was, to lead him, in close secrecy,
Even to Madeline's chamber, and there hide
Him in a closet, of such privacy
That he might see her beauty unespied,
And win perhaps that night a peerless bride,
While legion'd faires pac'd the coverlet,
And pale enchantment held her sleepy-eyed.
Never on such a night have lovers met,
Since Merlin paid his Demon all the monstrous debt.

  • In today's edition of R. Kelly: Still Somehow Relevant, we learn that Porphyro's cunning plan apparently requires him to hide in Madeline's closet and look at her in private. 
  • Suddenly Angela's freakout in stanza 16 starts making a lot more sense: Porphyro's arranging a private viewing of Madeline, peeping at her through the closet door.
  • Even though Angela and Porphyro both think the St. Agnes' Eve ritual is a dud, there's nevertheless a heightened supernatural air to the whole situation. Madeline isn't just going to be asleep, she's going to be under a spell of "pale enchantment," while fairies (yes, more fairies) flitter about her bed.
  • Those last two lines are a little weird: they definitely refer to the magician Merlin from Arthurian legend, but critics are a little fuzzy on exactly which episode of Merlin's life they reference. Most think the lines are talking about Nimue—the witch that Merlin had a huge crush on, but who ended up trapping him in a cave, where he died. Sad.
  • Confusion aside, everybody agrees that this last part definitely sets a sinister tone, and ratchets up the tension.