Vampires in Poetry

La Belle Dame Sans MerciBy John KeatsThe Glamour

By Lord Byron Oil and Blood

By William Butler Yeats

By Sarah Moje via www.BrightHubEducation.Com

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Vocabulary Within the Keats’ Poem

• Loitering- lingering, hanging around.

• Granary- place where food is stored.• Haggard- worn out, tired.• Faery- fairy, fey, spirit.• Garland- wreath of flowers.• Grot- woodland home or dwelling.• Sojourn- travel

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Who Is La Belle Dame Sans Merci?

• Literally, in French it means “the beautiful lady without mercy.”

• The title is French, but the poem was written by English poet John Keats.

• La Belle Dame sans Merci symbolizes more than one woman.

• She provides a warning about the dangers of being captured by a “fey” or perhaps…a vampire!

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A Destroyer of Men?

• La Belle destroys more men than just the knight.

• These other men are seen in the brief dream the knight has before awakening to his loneliness

• They include kings, princes, and warriors, all men of power and all plural, indicating their large number.

• That La Belle could ruin powerful men lets readers know she is supernatural.

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Her Powers

• Her power surpasses death. • The pale kings, princes and warriors continue to be tortured by the memory of her after their death

• -- their "starv'd lips" crave her kiss.

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Evidence of Vampiric Activity

• Speaker is pale and haggard.• He is wandering around lost.• The color has faded from his face.• He met a strange woman and spent the night with her.

• Had a terrible dream. People in dream had horrible open mouths.

• They warned him about the woman.• He wakes up weak, and she is gone.

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Vocabulary within Byron’s Poem

• Rent ~ Torn out from.• Livid ~ full of life; angry• Loathe ~ to hate or detest.• Expire ~ to cease to exist.• Withered ~ died; to fade away.

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Byron’s Vampire

• Byron’s vampire says he has a job to do.

• The poem opens with an order. But first…

• It goes on to describe all the things this vampire must do.

• Byron’s poem is a “survival guide” for vampires.

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Tasks to Complete

• Rise from the tomb where he is buried.

• Haunt the place in which he grew up.• Feed on the women in the family.

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How Does the Vampire Feel?

• “Yet loathe the banquet which perforce must feed thy livid, living corpse.”

• Is Byron’s vampire supposed to get any joy when feeding on others?

• Is he just doing it to survive?

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A Situation of Hate

• The vampire hates himself for feeding on his family.

• The family hates the vampire for taking their lives and for making them vampires.

• They curse each other, but each new vampire he makes faces the same fate as he has.

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The Title?

Why call the poem “The Glamour”.Glamour is a word often associated with vampires.

Why?

Vocabulary in Yeat’s Poem

• Lapis Lazuli- a deep blue stone like mineral.

• Exude- to give off.• Shrouds- a cloth in which a corpse is wrapped for burial.

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Yeat’s Poem

• The shortest of the three, Yeat’s poem sets up a contrast between the “good” dead and the vampires.

• He layers his poem, with the dead who will not rise in beautiful tombs, covered in sweet smelling violet flowers and scented oils.

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Yeat’s Vampire

• His vampire lurks far beneath the ground, in older tombs, undecorated and smelling foul.

• They are not covered with jewels and flowers, but rather wrapped in winding shrouds.

• The fact that they lie under trampled clay can mean they are buried EVERYWHERE people walk.

• Their bloody lips mean they feed on all life forms.

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Compare/Contrast

• In a 2-3 page paper, compare/contrast the vampires presented in these three poems.

• Use quotes from the poem to show similarities and differences.

• Discuss the author’s writing style as well and the imagery used in the poem.

• Conclude by explaining what each vampire could be a metaphor for.