The Eve of Saint Mark (poem)

The Eve of Saint (St.) Mark is an English language poem by John Keats. It was left unfinished in 1819.[1] It is related to his earlier poem written in the same year, The Eve of Saint Agnes.[2]

The Eve of Saint Mark
by John Keats
Written1819
LanguageEnglish
Genre(s)poem (unfinished)

Legend
Main article: St Mark's Eve

St. Mark's Eve falls on April 24, the day before the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist. In northern English folklore, it was believed that if a person took up watch in the church porch on St. Mark's Eve one would see the spectres of those destined to die during the year pass into the church.

Keats also mentions the legend in his fairy story, the Cap and Bells; here too, the young woman is named Bertha.[3]

Poem

Keats wrote this poem in February 1819, after The Eve of Saint Agnes but before La Belle Dame sans Merci.[2] It opens, "Upon a Sabbath-day it fell;" and describes the streets of a cathedral town as the residents head to Evensong. Keats later described it as an attempt to create the "spirit of quietude". "I think I will give you the sensation of walking about an old country town in a coolish evening."[4]

See also

References
  1. "'The Eve of St. Mark' by John Keats". Berfrois. 13 August 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  2. Ulmer, William A. (15 April 2017). John Keats: Reimagining History. Springer. ISBN 978-3-319-47084-9.
  3. The Poems of John Keats, Vol. 2, Notes = p. 525, (Ernest De Sélincourt, ed.) Dodd, Mead, 1905
  4. Poems and Letters of John Keats, Houghton Mifflin, 1899, p. 196

Further reading


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