John Keats' "Lamia" is a very early piece (year 1819?) of Gothic literature bringing life to the conventions of the Gothic. Like other "second generation" Romantic poets, he sought to revive the early political and social radicalism of the "first generation." Inspired by such events as the French Revolution and other chaotic uprisings, Keats rebelled against the rigid and predictable ideals of neo-classicism, which was rational, imposing, and relied heavily on form and structure. Hence Keats’s poetry was everything that the classical was not — disordered, illogical, supernaturalised, and anti-conventional in a way that stunned the neo-classical world. More than bringing life to conventions of the Gothic, Keats brought life to the literary world by contributing poetic forms and subjects that were completely foreign and novel. John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – February 23, 1821) was one of the principal poets of the English Romantic movement. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Gothic novel. ... Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romantics redirects here, for the band, see The Romantics Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the industrial revolution. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ...

The setting of "Lamia" is fantastically radical. The beginning of the poem supplies such a setting:

"Upon a time, before the faery broods

Drove Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous woods"

Already, from line one, we have a setting that’s both very supernatural and very isolated, two important features of the Gothic. The setting also suggests a lost period, a time before any we can recall. The setting also exposes a concern with nature. Nature is an important element of Gothic setting, and Keats emphasizes the vitality of nature by personifying it as a character in the poem. For example,

"From rushes green and cowslip’d lawns"

that was

"breathing upon the flowers his passion new,

and wound with many a river to its head"

The creature, Lamia, herself is even described as an animal, with nature playing a large part in the description: Look up lamia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

"Striped like a Zebra, freckled like a pard, / Eyed like a peacock".

Hence, like Frankenstein, nature plays a large part in "Lamia," but in slightly more supernatural sense. Not only is Lamia described as being connected with nature, but she is described as supernatural: This article is about the 1818 novel. ...

"She was a Gordian shape of dazzling hue",

She is composed of both mortal and immortal elements, which was unusual in literature at the time:

"Her head was serpent, but ah, bitter-sweet,

she had a woman’s mouth, with all its pearls complete".

Keats brings the unusual convention of the supernatural to life by intertwining familiar and unfamiliar elements when describing Lamia. Sexual temptation is another convention of the Gothic that Keats uses in "Lamia". He brings this convention to life because rarely was extreme sexual temptation used in neo-classical texts. He also makes it unusual by creating the desire of a mortal for an immortal being. Lamia is described as a temptress, e.g.:

"...some penanced lady elf,

some demon’s mistress, or the demon’s self".

This is also a biblical allusion, which are scattered throughout Keats’ poem. They serve to counteract the neo-classical references by alluding to less recommended stories and figures, such, in this case, as the devil. Lamia herself seems to parallel the serpent from the Garden of Eden, and there are references to the Book Of Genesis. Not only are there religious references, but other references include Milton’s Paradise Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and, importantly, Greek mythology, for example, "Apollo’s presence". Confinement and claustrophobia are also utilised in the poem. The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew גַּן עֵדֶן  ; Arabic جنة عدن  ; in Greek Οὐρανός [uƔɑNÉ’s] Starry Sky : גןַֹ֗ [אְוּגַ֗ןוֹסַ֗ ]) is described in the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve, lived... Genesis (Hebrew: ‎, Greek: Γένεσις, meaning birth, creation, cause, beginning, source or origin) is the first book of the Torah, the Tanakh, and the Old Testament. ... Title page of the first edition (1667) Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. ... A Midsummer Nights Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the mid-1590s. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the telling of stories created by the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices. ... Claustrophobia is an anxiety disorder that involves the fear of enclosed or confined spaces. ...

External links

• Wikisource:Lamia
• Lamia, available at Project Gutenberg.