Ode to Psyche

Stanza 1: Lines 1-23

The first four lines are a kind of preamble or introduction. The speaker modestly apologizes for the poor quality of their verse—“tuneless numbers” (Line 1). Then the verse proper begins, which the speaker intones into the “soft-conched ear” (Line 4) of Psyche herself. A conch is a seashell, so this means that her ear is shaped like a shell. The speaker may have dreamt that they saw Psyche, or that their sight of her might have been a waking experience gained through the exercise of their visionary imagination.

The luxuriant natural setting of a forest, silent and full of fragrances, with overarching, leaf- and blossom-laden branches is a fitting place for the two gods. However, the setting is less important than the manner of their interaction. The two figures that the speaker sees lying side by side on the grass are “calm-breathing” (Line 15), even as their arms and wings embrace. This is a very Keatsian idea of passion captured in a quiet, still moment: Cupid and Psyche, asleep, are caught in a timeless moment of love. At once they are together and yet slightly apart: “Their lips touched not, but had not bade adieu” (Line 17).