Lamia Flashcards
(18 cards)
“Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous woods”
Line 2
-Unnatural world (“Nymph and Satyr”) contrasting with humanly and rational world (“woods”)
-Spirits from the woods
“Bent warm on amorous theft:
From high Olympus had he stolen light”
Lines 8 and 9
-Her “light” is helping him see
-Could be fire, suggesting he is looking for something (her)
“From vale to vale, from wood to wood, he flew”
Line 27
-His obsession and passion to find her
“To find where this sweet Nymph prepared her secret bed”
Lines 30 and 31
-Sexual intent
-Extra syllable, breaking the rhythm; foreshadowing broken relationships etc
“He found a palpitating snake”
Line 46
-Victim and villain
-Her fear and nerves > her later fear of exposure
-Palpitating means fast hear beat
“Vermilion-spotted, golden, green, and blue”
Line 49
-Colours represent her bright and luminous beauty
-“Golden” suggests her powers make her rich of appearance
“Some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s self”
Line 58
-Perceived as an evil demon
-She wasn’t just possessed by the devil, but made into one too
-Hell/religious imagery
“Her elfin blood in madness ran”
Line 152
-Her transformation is chaotic and painful
-“Elfin blood” implies her supernatural and otherworldly origin
“Her eyes in torture fixed and anguish drear”
Line 156
-Price of love and being mortal
-Unbearable pain
-Deep and bleak pain
“The colours all inflamed throughout her train”
Line 160
-Erupts with vivid colours
-A burning and uncontrollable force
“So that, in moments few, she was undressed”
Line 168
-An immediate transition
-She has lost rather than gained something
-Potential sexual underlying imagery?
“Nothing but pain and ugliness were left”
Line 171
-Emotional weight
-Left her with suffering only
-Mortal world and being human
“Crete’s forests heard no more”
Line 177
-Serpent identity fully erased > end of transformation
-Natural world no longer bears her existence
“When in the serpent prison-house”
Line 211
-She was trapped in the snake body
-Suggests she is more free now than she was before
-“Prison” implies her past identity was torturous
“Lamia beheld him coming, near, more near”
Line 246
-She has held on to her predatory nature she had as a snake
-Desperation for love
“So neighboured to him, and yet so unseen”
Line 249
-Invisible and camouflaged
-They’re like predator and prey
-Familiar yet never seen before
“And soon his eyes had drunk her beauty up”
Line 260
-Her attractiveness has taken advantage of her
-Love at first sight > ultimately leads to their demise
