The Origins of the Literary Vampire by Crawford Heide;

Author:Crawford, Heide;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Unlimited Model
Published: 2012-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff: “Das kalte Liebchen” (“The Cold Sweetheart”) and “Die späte Hochzeit” (“The Late Wedding”)

Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff wrote two poems that, in contrast to Goethe’s ballad, provide no explanation for the identities of the women in his poems as vampires. By the time Eichendorff wrote his vampire poems in 1816 and 1828, readers were very likely so familiar with the vampire from folklore and superstition as well as the literary vampire, popularized by Bürger, Goethe, and contemporary British poets such as John Polidori and Lord Byron, that there was no need for Eichendorff to explain how or why a person might become a vampire. The readers’ fascination with the vampire developed more from the suspense created by the interplay of the readers’ knowledge of the vampire’s identity and the victim’s ignorance of what lay ahead.

Though both women in Eichendorff’s poems are revenants, only the one in his poem, “The Late Wedding,” is also a complete and intentional femme fatale—at least in one possible interpretation of her actions. Eichendorff’s ballad, “The Cold Sweetheart,” is the first known German vampire poem that does not have as its focus the vampiric characteristics or actions of the revenant. Instead, the focus is on the impending tragic consequences for the young man who will join his vampire lover despite her warnings of his likely fate. As we have seen, Goethe’s bride in “The Bride of Corinth” goes into great detail when she explains her vampiric nature and preferred manner of death to her mother, albeit not until the end of the poem. By the time Eichendorff wrote “The Cold Sweetheart” in 1816, the motif of the revenant lover who later reveals his or her vampiric nature had already been popular for some time. For this reason, it was not necessary for Eichendorff to dwell on the details of his character’s vampire nature, nor is it necessary to address how she became a vampire. It was enough for him to imply her vampiric nature by references, such as her “Kämmerlein” (little room) and how cold it is where she lies: “Hier wird’s noch viel kühler sein” (Here it will be much cooler) (l.8) and especially that her lover must follow her to the grave: “Mit ins Grab hinunter muß” (Will have to join me in the grave) (l.16).

In “The Cold Sweetheart,” the man ignores repeated requests by the woman to stay away. The woman gives him several vague indications that she is in fact dead and lying in her coffin, but he is determined to lie down with her. Finally, when the witching hour is upon them (“Sieh! Die Sterne schon erblassen” [See! The stars are already fading”; l.9]), she feels herself falling into an altered state, a “slumber” (l.10). The young man tries to embrace her and suffers from her kiss: “Wahnsinn bringt der Toten Kuß” (The kiss of the dead brings insanity; l.14). In the end she informs him that he must follow her to her grave: “Mit ins Grab hinunter muß” (Will have to join me in the grave).

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.