St. Agnes (poem)

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For the poem by John Keats, see The Eve of St. Agnes.

St. Agnes' Eve

* 1837
* 1842
* 1857

by Alfred Tennyson

St. Agnes Eve. Wood engraving by Dalziel after a design by J. E. Millais. Published in Moxon's edition of Tennyson (1857)

Genre(s)| Romanticism
Meter| Iambic tetrameter
Iambic trimeter
Rhyme scheme| ABABCDCDEFEF
Publication date|

* 1837
* 1842
* 1857

Lines| 36
Full text
St. Agnes' Eve (Tennyson) at Wikisource
Pen and ink drawing by Elizabeth Siddal, inscribed "By Lizzie R / Tennyson's St Agnes Eve" on the reverse of the mount (c. 1855)

"St. Agnes" is a poem by Alfred Tennyson, first published in 1837, revised in 1842, and retitled "St. Agnes' Eve" in 1857.

## History

[edit]

The poem was first published in 1837 in The Keepsake, an annual edited by Lady Emmeline Stuart Wortley, and was included in Poems (1842). No alteration was made in it after 1842.[1]

In 1857 the title was altered from "St. Agnes" to "St. Agnes' Eve", thus bringing it near to Keats' poem, The Eve of St. Agnes, which certainly influenced Tennyson in writing it, as a comparison of the opening of the two poems will show.[1]

Agnes of Rome, the saint from whom the poem takes its name, was a young girl of thirteen who suffered martyrdom in the reign of Diocletian: she is a companion to Sir Galahad.[1]

## Text

[edit]

> Deep on the convent-roof the snows
>   Are sparkling to the moon:
> My breath to heaven like vapour goes:
>   May my soul follow soon!
> The shadows of the convent-towers
>   Slant down the snowy sward,
> Still creeping with the creeping hours
>   That lead me to my Lord:
> Make Thou[a] my spirit pure and clear
>   As are the frosty skies,
> Or this first snowdrop of the year
>   That in[b] my bosom lies.

> As these white robes are soiled and dark,
>   To yonder shining ground;
> As this pale taper's earthly spark,
>   To yonder argent round;
> So shows my soul before the Lamb,
>   My spirit before Thee;
> So in mine earthly house I am,
>   To that I hope to be.
> Break up the heavens, O Lord! and far,
>   Thro' all yon starlight keen,
> Draw me, thy bride, a glittering star,
>   In raiment white and clean.

> He lifts me to the golden doors;
>   The flashes come and go;
> All heaven bursts her starry floors,
>   And strows[c] her lights below,
> And deepens on and up! the gates
>   Roll back, and far within
> For me the Heavenly Bridegroom waits,[d]
>   To make me pure of sin.[e]
> The sabbaths of Eternity,
>   One sabbath deep and wide—
> A light upon the shining sea—
>   The Bridegroom[f] with his bride!

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ In Keepsake: not capital in Thou.
2. ^ In Keepsake: On.
3. ^ In Keepsake: Strews.
4. ^ In Keepsake: not capitals in Heavenly and Bridegroom.
5. ^ In Keepsake: To wash me pure from sin.
6. ^ In Keepsake: capital in Bridegroom.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Collins 1900, p. 238.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Collins, John Churton, ed. (1900). The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. London: Methuen & Co. pp. 238–241.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
* McLuhan, H. M., ed. "St. Agnes' Eve". RPO: Representative Poetry Online. University of Toronto Libraries. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
* Ringel, Meredith (21 December 2004). "The Theme of "The Eve of St. Agnes" in the Pre-Raphaelite Movement". The Victorian Web. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
* Tennyson, Hallam (1897). Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by his Son. Vol. 1. London: Macmillan and Co., Limited. pp. 142, 157, 420.

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* t
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Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson

Early poetry|

* Poems, Chiefly Lyrical (1830)
* "The Deserted House"
* "The Kraken"
* "The Lady of Shalott"
* "The Lotos-Eaters"
* "Mariana"
* "Oenone"
* "Mariana in the South"
* The Miller's Daughter
* "Claribel"
* "The Ballad of Oriana"

Poetry|

* "Break, Break, Break"
* "The Charge of the Light Brigade"
* "The Day-Dream"
* "A Dream of Fair Women"
* "Godiva"
* "St. Agnes"
* Lady Clare
* Idylls of the King
* "In Memoriam A.H.H."
* "Lady Clara Vere de Vere"
* "Locksley Hall"
* "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal"
* Poems (1842)
* "The Palace of Art"
* The Princess
* "Sir Galahad"
* "St. Simeon Stylites"
* "Sweet and Low"
* "Tears, Idle Tears"
* "The Two Voices"
* "Ulysses"

Late poetry|

* "Crossing the Bar"
* "The Eagle"
* Enoch Arden
* "Flower in the Crannied Wall"
* "The Higher Pantheism"
* Maud
* "Ring Out, Wild Bells"
* "Tithonus"

Other works|

* The Foresters (play)
* The Window (song cycle)

Related|

* Chapel House, Twickenham
* Farringford House
* Tennyson Down
* Blackdown, West Sussex

People|

* Emily Tennyson (wife)
* Hallam Tennyson (son)
* Lionel Tennyson (grandson)
* Charles Tennyson (grandson)
* Emilia Tennyson (sister)
* Charles Tennyson Turner (brother)
* Frederick Tennyson (brother)
* Arthur Hallam (friend)

*[c.]: circa
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