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Full of this whim was thoughtful Madeline:
The music, yearning like a God in pain,
She scarcely heard: her maiden eyes divine,
Fix’d on the floor, saw many a sweeping train
Pass by—she heeded not at all: in vain
Came many a tiptoe, amorous cavalier,
And back retir’d; not cool’d by high disdain,
But she saw not: her heart was otherwhere:
She sigh’d for Agnes’ dreams, the sweetest of the year.
Summary
Madeline the daughter of the lord of this castle, scarcely hears the soft and pathetic music, as her eager mind is completely filled with the peculiar notion (whim) on which she is pondering. Her god-like maiden eyes are fixed on the floor. She sees many guests passing and dragging their flowing robes behind them. But she pays no attention at all to them. Many a love-stricken knight came in the tip-toe of excitement to win her favor but all returned disappointed. Madeline’s contempt for them only fanned their ardor of love, instead of cooling it. But Madeline sees them not, as her heart is fixed elsewhere and she is pining for the sweet Agnes’ dream (namely a vision of her future husband) which may be seen only on that auspicious night of the year.