Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Christabel
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) English poet, critic, and philosopher is considered one of the most influential writers of all time. His poems "Kublai Khan" and The Rhime of the Ancient Mariner as well as critical works on Shakespeare and his philosophical Biographia Literaria are taught and studied throughout the world today. Another of one of his poems, "Christabel", is very influential in the history of vampire literature. Although technically there is no mention of "vampires" in this poem, there are clearly sexual and supernatural images and intimations that occur throughout it. Split into two parts, Christabel's first part was composed in 1797 and its second part was composed in 1800. It was not published, however, until 1816. This work continues to influence vampire literature to this day, but its influence is most clearly seen in Edgar A. Poe's "The Sleeper" and Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novella “Carmilla”, which features a teenage female vampire and a teenage female victim who bear a striking resemblance to Geraldine and Christabel in Coleridge's poem.
“Christabel” relates the story of a young girl, Christabel, who leaves her home at night to pray at an old oak tree. There she finds another girl, Geraldine, hiding behind the tree. Geraldine claims to have been abducted by men on horseback. Christabel feels pity for her and takes her back home with her. On their journey home, there are several troubling signs of the supernatural. A dog barks at them for no reason; there is a mysterious flame on a dead fire; and, most troubling of all, Geraldine is unable to cross water. This last sign is a common trope in supernatural fiction where a vampire, ghost, or revenant is unable to cross water. Geraldine and Christabel spend the night together. As Geraldine undresses for bed, she is said to have terrible but undefined mark on her body. Christabel's father, Sir Leonine, becomes obsessed with Geraldine and proclaims a parade to celebrate her rescue. The poem ends there, unfinished. The sexual subtext between Geraldine and Christabel as well as the vaguely sinister occurrences surrounding Geraldine herself show the influence of Coleridge's fragment on subsequent vampire literature.