Poetry · Chapter
The Eve of St. Mark explained
On a holy Sabbath evening, the city streets are filled with pious folk heading to evening prayer.
What happens
On a holy Sabbath evening, the city streets are filled with pious folk heading to evening prayer. Inside her home, Bertha is absorbed in an ancient, patchwork volume of religious lore, reading by the window until dusk leaves her in darkness. She lights a lamp and continues reading, her shadow casting eerie shapes around the room. The book contains legends of Saint Mark, including his martyrdom and the shrine at Venice, interspersed with marginal notes and pious verses.
Themes in this chapter
Sorrow and Melancholy
The poem's atmosphere is one of quiet gloom and solitude, as Bertha reads alone in the darkening room, her shadow casting eerie forms, and the city falls silent.
Art and Poetry
The detailed description of the book's illustrations and marginal verses highlights the interplay between visual art and written word, as well as the poetic craft of the legend.
Characters to notice
- Bertha
A maiden dwelling in the old Minster-square, deeply engrossed in a curious religious volume on the eve of St. Mark.
Key passages
“Twice holy was the Sabbath-bell, That call’d the folk to evening prayer;”
The Sabbath bell was doubly sacred as it summoned the people to evening worship.
Establishes the sacred setting and the communal call to prayer.
“Bertha was a maiden fair, Dwelling in th’ old Minster-square;”
Bertha was a beautiful young woman who lived in the square near the old cathedral.
Introduces the protagonist and her location.
“Untired she read, her shadow still Glower’d about, as it would fill The room with wildest forms and shades,”
She read on without tiring, while her shadow loomed and shifted, seeming to fill the room with strange and wild shapes.
Conveys the eerie, almost supernatural atmosphere as Bertha reads.