Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"Christabel" is a narrative poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in the early 19th century, which explores themes of good and evil, loyalty, and the supernatural. Set in the English Lake District, the poem begins at Langdale Hall, where Christabel, the baron's daughter, encounters a mysterious woman named Geraldine in the woods. Geraldine claims to have been abducted and seeks refuge with Christabel, who, despite an unsettling feeling, brings her back to the castle.
The poem delves into the complex relationship between the two women, highlighting an ambiguous blend of friendship and enchantment. As the story unfolds, the dynamics shift dramatically when Christabel’s father, Sir Leoline, becomes infatuated with Geraldine, leading to tension and conflict. Geraldine’s true nature is gradually revealed, suggesting darker, perhaps malignant forces at play. The work is notable for its vivid imagery and emotional depth, grappling with the dualities of innocence and experience, love and betrayal.
Overall, "Christabel" remains an intriguing exploration of the human psyche, laden with symbolism and rich in Gothic elements, inviting readers to ponder its ambiguities and underlying messages.
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Christabel by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
First published: 1816
Type of work: Poetry
Type of plot: Gothic
Time of plot: Middle Ages
Locale: Lake District, England
Principal characters
Christabel , a young womanSir Leoline , her father, a wealthy baron and widowerGeraldine , a young woman, who seems to be a vampireBard Bracy , a member of Sir Leoline’s household
The Poem:
It is midnight at Langdale Hall, the English Lake District castle of Sir Leoline, and under an April full moon the baron’s daughter Christabel passes through the gate and walks alone deep into the forest, eventually stopping to pray at an old oak tree for the well-being of the knight to whom she is betrothed. Hearing a moan, she goes to the other side of the tree and sees “a damsel bright,/ Drest in a silken robe of white . . . gems entangled in her hair.” The stranger tells Christabel she is of noble birth, is named Geraldine, and was abducted by five warriors who left her beneath the oak, promising to return. Christabel assures Geraldine that her father will see that she is safely guided home and leads her to the castle and her bedchamber, where Christabel offers her guest wine made by Christabel’s late mother (who “died the hour that [she] was born”). Seemingly sensing that the mother’s spirit is present, Geraldine says
“Off, old woman, off! This hour is mine—
Restored by the wine, Geraldine assures her hostess, “All they who live in the upper sky,/ Do love you, holy Christabel!” and she will attempt “to requite you well.” Preparing for bed, Geraldine removes her clothes, and the narrator tantalizingly says
Behold! Her bosom and half her side—
Geraldine says nothing, but with a stricken look gets into bed, takes Christabel in her arms, and says
“In the touch of this bosom there worketh a spell,
Christabel will be unable to reveal to others this shameful mark. She sleeps that night with open eyes (“ah woe is me!” laments the narrator), whereas Geraldine “Seems to slumber still and mild,/ As a mother with her child.” When Christabel awakens in the morning, smiling yet weeping, the narrator speculates hopefully that guardian spirits will look after her.
The second part of the poem begins with the daily morning tolling of the bell, which Bracy the bard says has been heard throughout the Lake District for years that span the lives of three sacristans. When Geraldine awakens, Christabel thinks her bedmate is fairer than she was the night before: “For she belike hath drunken deep/ Of all the blessedness of sleep!” She then says, “Sure I have sinned!” but under Geraldine’s spell, she can only pray that Jesus might wash away any unknown transgressions. She introduces Geraldine to Sir Leoline, who at first welcomes her but, hearing her tale and father’s name—Lord Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine—grows pale, recalling that he and Roland had been close friends when young but subsequently became estranged.
They parted—ne-er to meet again!
Moved by recollections of past friendship and seeing in Geraldine a youthful Sir Roland, Sir Leoline vows to avenge those who wronged her. When he embraces Geraldine, she prolongs the closeness “with joyous look,” and Christabel recalls her fearful vision of Geraldine the previous night.
Again she saw that bosom old,
Her father asks what ails her, but “so mighty was the spell” she cannot tell him.
Geraldine, feigning concern that she has offended Christabel, asks that she be sent home without delay, but the baron refuses. He orders Bracy to travel to Lord Roland’s home, inform him his daughter is safe and that he should come to retrieve her. Bracy is also to say on his lord’s behalf
That I repent me of the day
Bracy, his voice faltering, asks of his master that “This day my journey should not be” because in a dream the previous night he found a dove called Christabel in distress in the forest with a snake coiled around its neck but awoke at that point (it was midnight) and vowed to search the forest this day “Lest aught unholy loiter there.”
Ignoring his daughter, Leoline turns to Geraldine, addresses her as “Lord Roland’s beauteous dove,” says that he with her father will crush the snake, and kisses her forehead, at which time her eyes “shrunk up to a serpent’s eye,/ And with somewhat of malice, and more of dread,” she looks askance at Christabel, who stumbles and shudders with a hissing sound. Christabel begs her father “By my mother’s soul” to send Geraldine away, although unable to tell him why, since she still is “O’ermastered by the mighty spell.” Sir Leoline feels betrayed, thinking Christabel is jealous because of his obvious attraction to Geraldine. His “rage and pain” swell, his heart is “cleft with pane and rage,” and he thinks his only child is dishonoring him in his old age. Turning to the “gentle minstrel bard,” he reiterates his earlier order, turns away from his daughter, and leads forth “the lady Geraldine!”
Bibliography
Bate, Walter Jackson. Samuel Taylor Coleridge. New York: Macmillan, 1968. A comprehensive one-volume biography that has not lost its importance with the passage of time.
Holmes, Richard. Coleridge: Early Visions. New York: Viking Penguin, 1990. Focusing upon Coleridge’s most productive years as a poet, this biography places “Christabel” in the context of the man’s life.
House, Humphry. Coleridge: The Clark Lectures, 1951-52. London: Hart-Davis, 1953. A collection of six lectures, this small book provides extended analyses of the poetry, including a landmark discussion of “Christabel.”
Magnuson, Paul. Coleridge’s Nightmare Poetry. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1974. Looks closely at Coleridge’s comments and textual revisions as a guide to interpreting his works.
Nethercot, Arthur H. The Road to Tryermaine: A Study of the History, Background, and Purposes of Coleridge’s “Christabel.” Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939. A comprehensive study of the origins of the poem that is patterned after The Road to Xanadu, the classic John Livingston Lowes book on “Kubla Khan.”
Paglia, Camille. “Christabel.” In Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Modern Critical Views, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. A psychoanalytic and feminist analysis of the poem that offers fresh insight into the work.
Taylor, Anya. Erotic Coleridge: Women, Love, and the Law Against Divorce. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Reads Coleridge’s representation of women in terms of contemporary marriage and divorce law. Includes a chapter on “Christobel” that emphasizes its representation of youthful vulnerability.