Vocabulary and Allusions Stanza 1       Line 5, beadsman: pauper paid to pray for patron; the name "beadsman" refers to the beads of a rosary. Stanza II       Line 7, Orat'ries: oratories or chapels Stanza V       Line 1, argent: silver Stanza VI       Line 8, require: ask of, beseech Stanza VII       Line 4, sweeping train: long dress trailing on the floor Stanza VIII       Line 4, timbrels: tambourine or small hand drum       Line 7, hoodwink'd: blinded or deceived             amort: as if dead, listless       Line 8, unshorn: On St. Agnes's Day, two lambs were blessed during mass; nuns later spun and wove their wool. Stanza IX       Line 5, buttress'd: hiding in the shadows of the buttress, a projecting structure to support the castle Stanza X       Line 9, beldame: nurse or old woman, hag Stanza XI       Line 2, wand: staff or stick       Line 5, bland: soft Stanza XII       Line 6, Gossip: a confidant or confidential friend Stanza XIV       Line 3, sieve: bewitched so that it held water       Line 4, fays: fairies       Line 9, mickle: much Stanza XV       Line 7, brook: hold back Stanza XVI       Line 9, bear them: defy them Stanza XVII       Line 3, passing-bell: death knell, rung when someone dies       Line 5, plaining: lamenting or sorrowing Stanza XIX       Line 9, Since...debt: Perhaps the Demon was the temptress Vivien, who trapped Merlin in a tree (in some versions of the story, a cave) after learning his magic. Or this may refer to Merlin as the son of a demon; in another version of Arthurian legend, Merlin disappeared in a storm which he had called up with a spell. Stanza XX       Line 2, cates: delicacies       Line 3, tambour frame: embroidery frame, shaped like a drum or tambourine Stanza XXI       Line 8, amain: exceedingly       Line 9, agues: shaking, from cold; a chill Stanza XXII       Line 1, Balustrade: bannister       Line 4, taper's: candle's       Line 9, frayed: frightened Stanza XXIII       Line 6, voluble: beating audibly Stanza XXIV       Line 1, casement: window       Line 2, imag'ries: designs       Line 7, heraldries: emblems indicating genealogy       Line 9, scutcheon: shield Stanza XXV       Line 2, gules: the name for red in heraldry       Line 3, boon: favor       Line 6, a glory: a halo Stanza XXVII       Line 7, clasped...pray: This line is ambiguous. It may mean "kept shut as a Christian book would be where pagans pray" or it can be read as meaning "held protectively as a believer among unbelievers." Stanza XXVIII       Line 7, fear: a frightened person Stanza XXIX       Line 5, Morphean: pertaining to Morpheus, the god of sleep             amulet: charm to sleep. Stanza XXX       Line 2, lavander'd: perfumed with lavander       Line 4, gourd: melon       Line 5, soother: smother       Line 6, tinct: tinctured             lucent syrops: clear syrups       Line 7, argosy: merchant fleet or a large merchant ship       Line 8, Fez: commercial city, associated with sugar, in Morocco       Line 9, Samarcand: city in Russia noted for its silks             Lebanon: famed for its cedar wood Stanza XXXI       Line 6, seraph: angel             eremite: hermit Stanza XXXII       Line 1, unnerved: weak (from intense emotion)       Line 5, salvers: trays       Line 7, redeem: set free       Line 9, woofed: woven Stanza XXXIII       Line 4, 'La belle dame sans merci': 'the beautiful lady without mercy,' a poem by the medieval poet Alain Cartier Stanza XXXIV       Line 6, witless: uncomprehending Stanza XXXV       Line 7, complainings: laments Stanza XXXVI       Line 7, solution: fusion or mixture       Line 8, Love's alarum: Love's or Cupid's warning Stanza XXXVII       Line 2, flaw-blown: gust-blown or wind-blown       Line 9, pruned: bedraggled , looking wet and soiled as if dragged Stanza XXXVIII       Line 2, aye: forever       Line 3, vermeil: vermillion       Line 9, infidel: unbeliever, non-Christian Stanza XXXIX       Line 2, haggard: wild             seeming: appearance       Line 7, Rhenish: Rhine wine             mead: fermented drink made of malt and honey       Line 7, arras: tapestry       Line 8, aves: the prayer, Hail Mary, from its Latin name Ave Maria Stanza XLI       Line 3, Porter: gatekeeper Keats Page || Core Studies 6 Page || Melani Home Page