# Isabel — Poetry character guide > Isabel in Poetry by John Keats. **Role:** major **Also known as:** sweet Isabel, thee **First appearance:** 0051-i ## Snapshot A simple maiden whose forbidden love for Lorenzo blooms in secret meetings, until her brothers' pride and greed turn her devotion into a vessel for grief. ## Who they are Isabel is a young noblewoman living under the same roof as Lorenzo, a servant to her brothers' trade ambitions. Their love grows in stolen evenings, tender and mutual, but her brothers intend to marry her to a high noble instead. When their scheming turns violent, Isabel's quiet devotion transforms into a haunting, solitary ritual of remembrance that makes her one of Keats's most haunting figures of love and loss. ## Relationships ### [Saturn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters/saturn) _romantic_ Isabel is a tragic lover of Saturn, caught in a doomed romance overshadowed by his melancholy and cosmic burdens. ### [Hum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters/hum) _friendship_ Hum offers quiet comfort to Isabel, sharing her grief over Saturn's emotional distance. ### [Saturn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters/saturn) _romantic_ Isabel is a tragic lover of Saturn, caught in a doomed romance overshadowed by his melancholy and cosmic burdens. ### [Saturn](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters/saturn) _romantic_ Isabel is a tragic lover of Saturn, caught in a doomed romance overshadowed by his melancholy and cosmic burdens. ### [Hum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters/hum) _friendship_ Hum offers quiet comfort to Isabel, sharing her grief over Saturn's emotional distance. ## In the story ### [Song: Hush, Hush! Tread Softly!](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/song-hush-hush-tread-softly) The beloved, addressed as 'sweet Isabel,' whose eyes and lips are the speaker's only light. ### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/i) Addressed as 'sweet Isabel,' she is the beloved being urged to move silently. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/ii) The speaker's beloved, whose eyes and lips are the only light desired in the darkness. ### [Isabella, or the Pot of Basil](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/isabella-or-the-pot-of-basil) The protagonist who falls in love with Lorenzo, mourns his death, and dies after her basil pot is stolen. ### [Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/i) Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel, deeply in love with Lorenzo. ### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/ii) Her thoughts are consumed by Lorenzo; she echoes his name in her music and embroidery. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/iii) The beloved whose beauty and presence are the focus of the speaker's devotion. ### [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/iv) The lady whose boon Lorenzo intends to ask, growing paler with longing. ### [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/v) Isabella's cheek grows pale and thin, like a young mother's, indicating her lovesickness. ### [VII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/vii) Observes Lorenzo's pale forehead and speaks his name tenderly, her expression completing her unspoken question. ### [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/viii) The recipient of Lorenzo's confession, addressed as 'O Isabella'. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xi) Meets secretly with Lorenzo in a bower before dusk. ### [XIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xiii) Isabella's great distress is referenced as an example of love's bitterness. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xiv) Fair lady dwelling with her two brothers, enriched by their ancestral merchandise. ### [XVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xviii) Referred to as 'Fair Isabella' in her 'downy nest,' indicating her hidden, innocent state. ### [XXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxi) Isabel is loved by Lorenzo, and her brothers are angry that she returns his affection. ### [XXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxii) Though not directly present, her brothers' plot is driven by their disapproval of her love for Lorenzo. ### [XXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxv) The lady whose laugh and smile are seen through the lattice. ### [XXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxvi) Bids Lorenzo goodbye and chants merrily as he goes. ### [XXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxvii) Isabel is not directly present but is the implied cause of the brothers' murderous intent. ### [XXIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxix) Isabel is deceived by her brothers' false story about Lorenzo's departure and is urged to give up hope. ### [Isabel's Lament](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxx) Weeps alone for lost pleasures, broods over luxury, and imagines Lorenzo's image in the dusk. ### [XXXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxi) Isabel experiences a shift from selfishness to a deeper, tragic passion and sorrow for her absent love. ### [XXXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxii) Isabel's beauty decays gradually, mirroring the autumn landscape. ### [XXXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxiii) Anxiously awaits Lorenzo, questioning her brothers with a pale eye. ### [XXXIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxiv) The subject of the chapter, who is awakened from a state of drowsy ignorance by a deadly realization. ### [XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxv) The recipient of the vision, witnessing Lorenzo's ghost at her couch. ### [XXXVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxvi) Isabella hangs on the music of the pale shadow's speech. ### [XXXVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxvii) The poor girl protected by the basil plant's magic light from phantom fears. ### [XXXVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xxxviii) Addressed by Lorenzo; she is asked to shed a tear for him. ### [XLI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xli) Isabel is the central figure, waking in distress after the Spirit's departure. ### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xlii) Speaker reflecting on crime and betrayal, possibly referencing her brother's actions. ### [XLIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xliii) Resolves to secretly visit the forest to find Lorenzo's clay and sing a lullaby. ### [XLIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xliv) Whispers to the aged Dame and shows a knife, then smiles despite the grim discovery. ### [XLV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xlv) Isabel is depicted kneeling by Lorenzo, embodying a grief far deeper than the idle musings of a churchyard visitor. ### [XLVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xlvi) Isabel gazes at the grave and begins to dig with her knife. ### [XLVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xlvii) Isabel mourns deeply, handling a soiled glove with a cold kiss and placing it in her bosom, then continues her work. ### [XLVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/xlviii) Labors over the basil plant with grim determination, not stamping or raving. ### [L](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/l) Isabel mourns over the dead love, kissing it and moaning. ### [LI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/li) Isabel cares for the basil plant with devotion, combing its leaves and weeping over it. ### [LII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lii) Tends to the basil plant with devotion, using a silken scarf and her tears. ### [LIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/liii) Isabel is so consumed by sorrow that she forgets the stars, moon, sun, and all of nature, focusing only on her basil plant. ### [LIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/liv) She feeds the basil plant with her tears, nurturing it from her grief. ### [LVI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lvi) Isabel is withering toward death, compared to a palm cut for its balm. ### [LVII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lvii) Isabel is observed weeping continually by her brethren, who question her rejection of a noble suitor. ### [LVIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lviii) Isabel is seen drooping by the basil plant, her sorrow and attachment to the plant puzzling her brothers. ### [LIX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lix) Isabel is depicted as devotedly tending to her basil plant, weeping over it and rarely leaving its side. ### [LX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lx) Her basil pot is stolen by the brothers. ### [LXI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lxi) Sweet Isabel is dying a lonely death after her basil plant was taken. ### [LXII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lxii) Grieving and searching for her lost basil plant, speaking to it with love and sorrow. ### [LXIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lxiii) Dies forlorn, imploring for her Basil to the last. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters/isabel - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/poetry_14_se/characters