Poetry · Character

The Hermit

A cloistered ascetic who abandons prayer for the temple of a marble goddess, trading holy terror for a night of forbidden, death-defying desire.

major

Also known as hunted

First appearance: chapter

As a major figure in Poetry, The Hermit is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

The speaker's voice aligns with a hermit-like figure reflecting on suffering and seeking redemption.

In the storyVita NuovaOpen this moment free

See The Hermit in Vita Nuova Book page

Free preview opens at this moment — character cards, Character Web, and themes sit beside the text as you read.

He is the poem's fevered narrator, a hermit whose devotions are shattered when he glimpses the pitiless chastity of a goddess's statue and returns by night to possess it. His passion is both sacrilege and worship: he kisses the cold ivory until dawn, well content to die for such a sight. His transgression sets the poem's central tension between renunciation and consuming appetite, and his flight afterward carries the reader into the second half of the tale.

Continue beside the text

The fuller portrait of The Hermit sits in Reading Lens — open the free preview to keep reading with notes on the page.

See The Hermit in chapter

Character Web

3 connections

A slice of how The Hermit sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Psychological
Other

Character groups

Protagonist
Religious and Mythological Personifications

Explore ties, sentiment, and clusters while you read

Open in reader

Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point

This is the dramatic climax because it reveals the psychological turning point where the speaker shifts from n…

Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.

Follow the arc while reading

Relationships

The Young Man
psychological · ambivalent
The Hermit acts as a mysterious mentor and obsessive guide, drawing the Young Man into a… How this plays out →
Love
psychological · ambivalent
The Young Man
psychological · ambivalent
The Hermit acts as a mysterious mentor and obsessive guide, drawing the Young Man into a… How this plays out →
The Young Man
psychological · ambivalent
The Hermit acts as a mysterious mentor and obsessive guide, drawing the Young Man into a… How this plays out →

The Young Man
The Hermit acts as a mysterious mentor and obsessive guide, drawing the Young Man into a secluded world of introspection and spiritual trials.
Love
Love and the Hermit are in a tense, philosophical struggle over the soul of the Young Man, representing desire versus renunciation.
The Young Man
The Hermit acts as a mysterious mentor and obsessive guide, drawing the Young Man into a secluded world of introspection and spiritual trials.
The Young Man
The Hermit acts as a mysterious mentor and obsessive guide, drawing the Young Man into a secluded world of introspection and spiritual trials.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See The Hermit in chapter

In the story

The Hermit appears across 4 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

Vita Nuova
The speaker's voice aligns with a hermit-like figure reflecting on suffering and seeking redemption.
Le Jardin des Tuileries
The speaker, a solitary observer watching children play in the winter garden.
Poems in Prose
Appears in the final poem; a hermit who once had perfect knowledge of God, refuses to give it to a young robber until the last moment, then weeps and is visited by a divine figure.
II
The narrator, a prisoner observing the condemned guardsman.

Chapter companion notes

Spoil-light check-ins for The Hermit unlock in the free preview.

See The Hermit in chapter

See The Hermit in Vita Nuova