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Classic Vampire Poetry from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth CenturyClassic vampire poetry featuring has been around for a very long time. Humanity has always seemed to possess a love and interest in these most human of the supernatural creatures. In fact, the shift in vampires from stumbling revenents (zombie-like walking corpses) is first evidenced in poetry, not in literature (which is what a modern reader would expect). The undead appear first in poems of German writers in the mid-eighteenth century. It didn't take long to cross the channel to England, and for the English undead to manifest many of the same characteristics of the German Vampire.
Thus, while the topic might be supernatural in essence, and the ingredients be those of Gothic horror and Gothic romance, the poet has the same tools of the trade as any other poet with which to create his undying creation. These two links will take you to discussions on how to read poetry aloud as the poet intends, and to a discussion on the elements of poetry.
Poetic Structure and Elements
It will open a page featuring a discussion of the various elements. It will open in a separate page, so you could keep it open while reading the poems. The following are the preDracula poems that have been translated into English. A separate section will eventually arrive featuring more modern poetry about vampires.
Contents Organized by Date1748 "Der Vampir" Ossenfelder 1748 Brings the German "Der Vampir," by Heinrich August Ossenfelder. It is the first example of poetry about a Vampire, and at two stanzas,an extremely short poem. Note that there might easily have been earlier vampire poems, both in England and on the Continent, but unless the holders of the extremely rare literature make them known, they don't really count, do they? (I have set these to open in new windows for ease of side-to-side study.) 1790 "Lenora" Göttfried August Bürger This is the version translated into English by Dante Gabriel Rosetti. The vampire is now a soldier capable of riding a horse, and being seen without giving the viewer the heebie-jeebies. There are links to the poem, and to a study-guide. I have set the study-questions to open to a separate page, so you can have the two side-by-side. Study-guide Questions (created for the Rossetti version of "Lenora" 1797 "The Bride of Corinth" Johann Wolfgang von Goethe This poem features the arrival of the female vampire into the early poetry. Note that I am not claiming they didn't exist before, simply that they arrive in the poetry at this point in time. The links which follow will take you to the poem, and to my summary of the poem. I highly recommend reading the summary side-by-side with the poem since the poem is quite complex (and just a bit boring)! To enable this, I am setting the summary to open a new page, and the top link will take you to the poem. Summary for Goethe's "The Bride of Corinth" Goethe's "Skeleton Dance" Arguably this Goethe poem about a skeleton rising to dance with, and haunt / torture, a prison warden fits into the vampire category. It has risen from its grave and is interacting with still-mortal folks after all. Anyway, it is fun. 1801 "Thalaba the Destroyer" Robert Southey 1801 "Thalaba the Destroyer" Robert Southey. Book seven has a section in which the vampire is featured. I am focusing only on that section. 1810 "The Vampire" John Stagg This poem presents a unique blend of prose and poetry. It begins with an "argument" section, which is then followed by an extended rhymed poem. That said, it belongs just as well in the prose story section since it features a dialogue format and basically tells the story of vampires crawling into bed with friends and sucking them dry, which then creates another vampire.
Click here for notes on Stagg's poem 1813 "The Giaour" Lord Byron Yes, that Lord Byron. He was nothing if not prolific. "The Giaour" has a section that deals with a Christian vampire in Muslim Turkey. The Christian becomes a vampire after being slain in battle, only because he is a Christian. If you wonder how the vampire stanzas fit into the poem as a whole, the Supernatural Bookstore now offers a Study Guide to the poem.
Click here to look at the details! The Vampire Walks in Beauty: Bryon and Leslie Technically this probably doesn't fit here. But it is Byron's "She Walks in Beauty" rewritten to be vampire lit. It doesn't really fit anywhere... the Lord Byron part makes it not-modern, while my messin' with it makes it not quite Byron anymore. But since this is my site, here it is. 1816 "Christabel" Samuel Taylor Coleridge This poem by Coleridge if very explicit, and I would rate it an "R." 1819 "Lamia" John Keats 1819 "Lamia" by John Keats is about a Greek vampire. Frankly I don't care for the poem, so don't expect analysis of it for a good long while. 1820 "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" John Keats in 1820 John Keats produced the ballad "La Belle Dame Sans Merci." While it features a supernatural female predator who is pale and appears to enervate males with whom she comes into contact, I wouldn't really call her a vampire. 1845 James Maxwell, "The Vampyre" What you have just opened by clicking the hyper-link is the original language of the 1845 vampire poem by James Clerk Maxwell. To say the language is a difficult read is simplistic; it's a bear. The Scot's burr of the high-land comes through even given the non-standard spelling. This is why I have provided a modernized version below. Modernized Language Version (1845) "The Vampire" by Maxwell 1857 "Metamorphosis of a Vampire" Charles Baudelaire 1857 adds the theologically rich poem "Metamorphosis of a Vampire" by Charles Baudelaire. It features a seductive female vampire that represents the female as temptation and sin. Read it for yourself; it is both short and highly readable. This version is the translation by Emily Dickenson. Authur Symon's translation of "Metamporhosis"
Here is a pocket analysis of the poem.
Quick Analysis of "Metamporphosis of a Vampire" (1857) "The Vampire" by Charles Baudelaire: Translated by Arthur Symons This poem by Charles Baudelaire, while we are told it is about a vampire, could as easily be in the metaphor section of this website. This is as much about addiction as it is about a vampire. 1882 Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton's)"The Vampyre" Owen Meredith (Robert, Lord Lytton) published a little known vampire poem in 1882: "The Vampyre." It once more features a female vampire brought back to life by the male writer. This electonic version is fairly rare on the internet; and the book just sort of fell into my hands. So here it is. 1897 "The Vampire" Rudyard Kipling 1897, Rudyard Kipling published his wonderful poem "The Vampire." It is about a seductive female gold-digger. Oops! Vampire, I meant to type vampire. Below is a link to a feminist reading of Kipling's vamp.
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