'Lamia'- John Keats

• Narrative poem in heroic couplets (rhyming lines of 8 iambic feet).
• Story sourced from Robert Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy', published in 1621.
• Lamia's duality reflects Keats' own struggles, as she symbolises romanticism vs. enlightenment.
• Polysyndeton: Repetition of conjunctions in quick succession.
• Published in 1820.

Greek God Hermes (messenger) comes across Lamia while searching for a nymph. She is trapped in the form of a serpent, and reveals the nymph to him in return for her human form. She goes to seek a youth of Corinth- Lycius- while Hermes and his nymph depart together into the woods. The relationship between Lamia and Lycius is destroyed by the sage Appolonius as he reveals Lamia's true identity. She disappears and Lycius dies of grief.

• "prosperous woods" is an anti-industrialist metaphor conveying the power of nature.
• Hermes' theft and hiding on Crete foreshadows dubious morality surrounding Lycius and Lamia.
• "Pearls" are ironic because they symbolise tears and honesty. This shows that the poem will be cyclical as Lamia returns to the Gods.
• Rhyming couplets signify the impact that Hermes' deal with Lamia will have: "Ah! What a world of love was at her feet! / So Hermes thought, and a celestial heat / Burnt from his winged heels to either ear".
• The verb "burnt" shows the negative impact that Lamia will have.
• Keats uses colour symbolism to showcase Hermes' emamourment with the nymph: "Burnt from his winged heels to either ear / That from a whiteness, as the lily clear / Blushed into roses".
• Repetitive structure of "From vale to vale, from wood to wood" shows Hermes' desperation.

• Lamia is dehumanised by detailing her "lone voice", as Keats creates ambiguity surrounding her physical form.
• Wreaths emulate the classical symbol of a snake eating its own tail, which symbolises the cyclic nature of the universe: "wreathed tomb". This alludes to the fact that Lamia will return to her true form.
• Polysyndeton conveys torment: "And love, and pleasure, and the ruddy strife".
• The fact that the snake is bright and yet partially hidden conveys Lamia's duplicitous nature: "Bright and cirque-couchant in a dusky brake". Lamia is coiled which again refers to the classical symbol.
• The noun "gordian" alludes to the Gordian Knot. implying that Lamia will be difficult.
• The simile "striped like a zebra, freckled like a pard" associates Lamia with both predator and prey.
• Vibrant and active imagery, as well as the juxtaposition of negative and positive lexicon conveys Lamia's elusive nature: "lustres", "miseries", "rainbow-sided" and "gloomier".
• Keats tended to portray "elf" characters as suspicious, foreshadowing Lamia's deception.
• The oxymoron "bitter-sweet!" reflects Lamia's antithetical nature.
• The simile "As Proserpine still weeps for her Sicilian air?" heightens Lamia's melancholy at being trapped in her snake form as Proserpine sacrificed half her year to live with Hades in the underworld.
• The simile "Like a stooped falcon" is ironic, as Lamia is actually the predator here.
• Lamia's prescient nature creates ambiguity and her lack of surprise at Hermes' presence makes her seem calculating

• Assonance in the line "Deaf to his throbbing throat's long, long melodious moan" drags out Hermes' sadness to showcase how much he wants the nymph. The Alexandrine also has this effect.
• The simile "swiftly as a bright Phoebean dart" flatters Hermes, showing Lamia's manipulative power as Phoebus was believed to draw the sun across the sky in his chariot.
• "Thou beauteous wreath" is ironic as Lamia will cause destruction with her true form.
• Ironic as Hermes' "serpent rod" (his sceptre) has two snakes entwined around it, foreshadowing Lamia's impact.
• Repetition of the adjective "unseen" enforces the idea that some things- i.e. Lamia's true nature- are better of unseen.
• Juxtaposition in the phrase "By the love-glances of unlovely eyes" emphasises the threatening nature of the male gaze upon the nymph.
• Keats continues to use colour symbolism to convey Lamia's negative imapct: "Pale grew her immortality".

• Religious and devoted semantic field is ironic compared to Lamia's elusive nature: "Warm, tremulous, devout, psalterian".
• Reference to the witch Circe (Who turned Odysseus and his men into pigs) conveys Lamia's true nature.
• The Alexandrine "Give me my woman's form, and place me where he is."shows pivotal moment.
  
• The caesura in the line "It was no dream; or say a dream it was" implies that Lamia can't be trusted.
• Further irony in "Caducean charm" as Cadeuceus was Hermes' sceptre.
• The celestial and natural similes "like a moon in wane" and "self-folding like a flower" convey the submission of the nymph.
• Repetition of soft "F" sounds convey the nymph's vulnerability: "Faded", "fearful", "faints" and "fostering".
• The simile "Like new flowers at morning song of bees / Bloomed, and gave up her honey to the lees" implies sexual intercourse.
• The metaphor "Nor grew they pale, as mortal lovers do" foreshadows Lycius' death.
• Caseura and enjambement create anticipation and draws attention to Lamia's duality: "Left to herself; the serpent now began"

• Painful semantic field contrasts with the vibrant and active imagery used earlier, conveying Lamia's duality.
• Sibilance and consonance in the quote "Flashed phosphor and sharp sparks" conveys the harshness of Lamia's transformation.
• The Alexandrine ending- "without one / Cooling tear" conveys a lack of humanity.
• Celestial lexicon parallels earlier imagery to convey that Lamia still has the same personality: "Eclipsed her crescents, and licked up her stars".
• "Nothing but pain anf ugliness were left".
• The quote "Crete's forests / Heard no more" alludes to the philosophical debate about trees falling in forests, and implies that Lamia's character is based on perception.
• Only naming Lamia post-transformation conveys the impact she will have as a woman.
• Hypohora in the quote "A full-born beauty new and exquisite?" conveys duality.
• Using real places grounds the tragedy and makes the eventual heartbreak more tragic: "Corinth", "Cenchreas" and "Cleone".
• The quote "By a clear pool, wherein she passioned / To see herself escaped from so sore ills, / While her robes flaunted with the daffodils" alludes to the myth of Narcissus, which is supported by reference to daffodils and the verb "flaunted". This implies that Lamia will be destroyed by truth.

• Antithesis in the quote "A virgin purest lipped, yet in the lore / Of love deep learned to the red heart's core" conveys Lamia's contradictory nature, as well as how Lycius is a victim of the Freudian Madonna-Whore complex.
• "To unperplex bliss from its neighbor pain" - contradictory nature conveys Lamia's ellusive nature.
• Oxymoronic semantic field alludes to negative capability.
• Reference to Gods in "faint Elysium" creates tragedy as Lamia left cameraderie behind: "Bacchus", "Pluto" and "Mulciber".
• The simile "like a young Jove" conveys Lycius' importance to Lamia as he is above all in her eyes.
• The phrase "moth-time" conveys how drawn Lamia is to Lycius, like a moth to light.

• Twilight is personified to convey how night time dims reason in the form of the philosopher Plato: "In the calmed twilight of Platonic shades".
• Lamia's ability to see and not be confined to the restrictions of mortality convey her power: "Lamia beheld him coming".
• Sibilance conveys Lycius' dream-like self-absorption: "silent sandals swept".
• The simile "his mind wrapped like a mantle" is ironic as Lycius is oblivious to Lamia.
• "But Orpheus-like at Eurydice" is ironic as it alludes to the doomed nature of the relationship as Orpheus was doomed by looking back at Eurydice. 
• The drinking metaphor conveys Lycius' mortality as his "cup" will soon be empty, and consumption conveys contemporary patriarchal ideals: "And soon his eyes had drunk her beauty up / Leaving no drop in the bewildering cup / And still the cup was full".
• Brackets convey the secrecy of Lamia's power, and the noun "chain" is a metaphor for both Lycius' mortality and loyalty: "(Her soft look growing coy, she saw his chain so sure)".
• "Even as thou vanishest I shall die" → Ironic foreshadowing
• Repetition of the imperative verb "stay" conveys Lycius' enamourment.
• "If thou shouldst fade / Thy memory will waste me to a shade"→ Ironic foreshadowing.

• Hyperbole shows Lamia's manipulative power: "And pain my steps upon these flowers too rough".
• "That finer spirits cannot breathe below / In human climes, and live" → Ironic foreshadowing.
• Repetition of questioning conveys the hopelessness of the match.
• Metaphor conveys entrapment and how Lycius will pine away and die without Lamia: "Put her new lips to his, and have afresh / The life she had so tangled in her mesh".
• "She began to sing...A song of love, too sweet for earthly lyres"→ Ironic allusion to the mystical call of snake charmers or the deadly call of sirens.
• Lamia over-compensates through an ironic allusion to "elfin blood" and "palpitating snake" and evokes pathos because she is lying: "For that she is a woman...throbbing blood".

• The quote "Days happy as the gold coin could invent" implies that Lamia's pleasures had previously been materialistic.
• Irony surrounding reference to Venus and Adonis as he was beloved by her but she was rejected. This is an ironic parallel.
• Alexandrine conveys Lamia's complexity as the question is ambiguous- is she questioning her capacity for love or whether Lycius is worth it?: "But wept alone those days, for why should she adore?".
• Consonance of soft "W" sounds conveys Lamia's sensuality as well as the continuation of the motif of the art of love: "To hear her whisper woman's lore so well".
• Lamia's calculating personality conveys her power, due to contemporary standards.
• "'twas too far that night for her soft feet" is an anaphoric reference as Lamia's manipulation conveys Lycius' gullibility.
• "blinded Lycius" is an ironic polysemant as Lycius is literally blind to Lamia's magic and figuratively blind to Lamia's true nature.
• The simile "And all her populous streets and temples lewd, / Muttered, like tempest in the distance brewed" ironically foreshadows the disrupted marriage. Personification conveys how another mortal- Appolonius- will destroy the marriage.

• Allusion to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, implying that Lycius' lack of education on the truth makes him live ignorantly in bliss, while learning the truth would usurp his marriage: "And threw their moving shadows on the walls, / Or found them clustered in the corniced shade".
• The quote "The ghost of folly haunting my sweet dreams" ironically foreshadows that Appolonius will usurp the marriage. This is symbolic as Enlightenment was seen as the enemy of Romanticism.
• Plosive "P" sounds conveys the grandeur of the mansion: "A pillared porch, with lofty portal door".
• The simile "Mild as a star in water" alludes to Lamia's illusory nature, as she is beautiful but out of place and will ultimately disappear when daylight- or the truth- comes.
• Personifcation of sound as "Aeolian" or Godly conveys beauty as Aelious was the Keeper of the Winds.
• Keats uses romantic irony to foreshadow trouble ahead: "And but the flitter-winged verse must tell, / And for truth's sake, what woe afterwards befell, / 'Twould humour many a heart to leave them thus, / Shut from the busy world, of more incredulous".

• Tripling of "cinder,ashes, dust" conveys Keats' cynicism of love and foreshadows the ruin of the relationship. 
• Using juxtaposing circumstances conveys that the love was doomed where ever the couple lived: "More grievous torment than a hermit's fast / That is a doubtful tale from faery land".
• "too short was their bliss / To breed distrust and hate, that make the soft voice / Hiss" foreshadows how the truth will reveal Lamia's true nature.
• Love is personified as an insect with evil intent, foreshadowing doom and conveying Keats' cynicism: "Love, jealous grown of so complete a pair, / Hovered and buzzed his wings, with fearful roar". Onomatopoeic verb makes it seem real and persistent, paralleling the predatory start to the poem. 
• "For all this came a ruin" foreshadows doom.
• The quote "Deafening the swallow's twitter, came a thrill / Of trumpets" is a metaphor for the fragility of their love being drowned out. 
• The oxymoron "sweet sin" refers to the fact that the couple are not yet married, and conveys the doomed nature of their love.

• Enjambement in the quote "more than her empery / Of joys" conveys that Lamia is only powerful in sex so she won't be able to hold onto Lycius forever.
• Alliteration in "passion's passing bell." drags out the phrase, while end-stopping abruptly closes it, paralleling how the relationship is curtailed by Appolonius. The noun "bell" also alludes to wedding and funeral bells.
• The quote "My silver planet" is ironic because Lycius sees Lamia as the moon, which disappears when light (or truth) comes. Diana- the Goddess of chastity- also represented the moon.
• Allusion to the tale of the Minotaur conveys the doomed relationship: "labyrinth".
• Ironic hunting semantic field as Lycius was the one who was decieved: "entangle, trammel up and snare".
• The phrase "unbuddded rose" is a metaphor for patriarchal expectations of unmarried women.
• Lycius' hubris shifts the balance of power which creates ambiguity as the reader is unsure where their sympathies should lie: "What mortal hath a prize, that other men / May be confounded and abashed withal". 
• Lamia takes on the qualities of a mortal woman, conveying the ill-matched relationship: "trembled", "pale and meek", "wept a rain of sorrows"
• Negative semantic field conveys that Lamia is bad for Lycius: "Besides", "despite", "against".

• Metonymy conveys that cruelty was not in Lycius' nature, implying that Lamia is bad for him: "In one whose brow had no dark veins to swell".
• The metaphor "Apollo's presence when in act to strike / The serpent" draws upon when Apollo slew Python and took his oracle, conveying how Lycius took Lamia's power.
• The quote "Hast any mortal name" is an example of negative capability as Lycius doesn't know Lamia's name, even though they're about to get married.
• The quote "heavenly progeny" is ironic as Lamia is immortal.
• The adjective "dazzling" is polysemantic as it means "enhanting" and "blinding".
• "I have no friends...My parent's bones are in their dusty urns...I neglec the holy rite for thee" creates pathos for Lamia as Lycius makes no such sacrifice for her.
• The metaphor "Of deep sleep in a moment was betrayed" foreshadows how Lamia's dream (or falseness) is destroyed by reality. 
• The tricolon "Strewn flowers, torches, and a marriage song" juxtaposes line 555, showing duality. Tripling also enhances the juxtaposition between Lycius' desire for a public wedding and Lamia's reluctance.
• "His foolish heart from its mad pompousness" conveys Lycius' hubris. 

• The metaphor "how to dress / The misery in fit magnificance." conveys Lamia's acceptance and is enhanced by end-stopping which creates finality.
• Sibilance in the phrase "subtle servitors" creates a sighing sound, like that of resignation. 
• Music is used as a device to maintain the illusion of a legitimate marriage: "as fearful the whole charm might fade". The verb "charm" alludes to Lamia's magic.
• "palms" symbolise triumph, and "plantain" symbolise snake repellent and strength, implying that it is against nature for Lamia and Lycius to be together. 
• The Alexandrine "There ran a stream of lamps straight on from wall to wall" conveys how the truth will come to light.
• The oxymoron "In pale contented sort of discontent" conveys Lamia's fear and happiness, as well as Keats' belief in romanticism over rationality. 
• The quote "viewless servants" is an allusion to nymphs, who preserved pastoral beauty. Lamia implores them to help her maintain her illusion.
• The verb "creeping" is jarring and foreboding.
• The tricolon "closed, hushed and still" juxtaposes line 520, showing duality.
• The Alexandrine "When dreadful guests would come to spoil her solitude" conveys Lamia's dismay. 
• Romantic irony conveys that the wedding will end poorly: "O senseless Lycius! Madman!".

• Antihesising Appollonious from the "herd" of other guests conveys his significance: "Save one, who looked thereon with eyes severe".
• The ice metaphor "had now begun to thaw / And solve and melt- 'twas just as he foresaw" conveys that Apollonius brings destruction.
• The noun "disciple" holds Biblical connotations, conveying that Lamia's betrayal will be lethal like that of Judas. 
• The verb "infest" contrasts with the adjective "bright", conveying peripeteia.
• Caesura conveys Apollonius' wize nature and places more focus on the impending catastrophe: "yet I must do this wrong,"
• Religious imagery conveys Lamia's downfall as myrrh was offered at Jesus' death and burial, and was customary to give to condemned people: "A censer fed with myrrh and spiced wood / Each by sacred tripod held aloft".
• Alliteration and assonance place emphasis on the smoke, implying that the relationship is going up in smoke: "Wool-woofed carpets; fifty wreaths of smoke".
• Contrast creates foreboding as Lamia is putting on a brave face: "Come from the gloomy tun with merry shine".
• Devotional piety to attendance reflects the classical religious practice of giving offerings to gods: "Each shrining in the midst the image of a God".

• The adjective "white" connotes the innocence of the bystanders compared to Lamia's deception.
• The Alexandrine "Whence all this mighty cost and blaze of wealth could spring" creates ironic foreboding in the phrase "mighty cost".
• The drunken cheerful tone exemplifies peripeteia of Apollonius' revealation.
• The phrase "osiered gold" is ironic as gold was woven into baskets like willow twigs, and willows symbolise grief and magic through Hecate. This conveys the illusory nature of the relationship.
• Rhetorical questions and romantic irony creates apprehension. 
• "What wreath for Lamia?" alludes to the earlier snake symbolism, as well as funeral wreaths.
• The quote "hung / The leaves of willow and of adder's tongue" foreshadows grief and magic. The past participle "hung" conveys set fate.
• The enjambement and harsh semantic field in the quote "Let spear-grass and the spiteful thistle wage / War on his temples" conveys Keats' antipathy towards Enlightenment over Romanticism.

• The quote "Do not let all charms fly / At the mere touch of cold philosophy?" is an allegorical warning from Keats. The rhetorical question creates pathos for Lamia.
• The metaphor "philosophy will clip an Angel's wings" conveys the significance of Romanticism and creates tragedy as it implies that Lycius could have loved Lamia despite her true nature.
• The phrase "unweave a rainbow" foreshadows the end of a beautiful relationship. 
• The quote "a cup he took / Full brimmed" is ironic anaphora as it alludes to the Part I metaphor about mortality.
• The metaphor "bald-head" alludes to bald eagles, implying that Lamia and Lycius will be victims of Apollonius.
• Antithesis in the quote "'twas icy, and the cold ran through his veins; / Then sudden it grew hot, and all the pains / Of an unnatural heat shot to his heart" conveys the idea that Lamia and Lycius should never have been together because they are too different.
• Lycius' tricolon of questions shows the pivotal shift from negative capability to tragic enlightenment, showing Keats' favour of romanticism: "Lamia, what means this? Wherefore dost thou start? / Know'st thou that man?".
• Emphasis on Lycius' "human senses" imply that mortal and immortal are not compatible. 
• "Music no more breathes; / The myrtle sickened in a thousand wreathes" uses tragic anaphora as Lamia seduced Lycius with siren-like song. Myrtle symbolises love as it was sacred to Venus, so the death of it conveys the end of the relationship. 

• Triple negative repetition of the determiner "no" creates pathos as it conveys that Lamia has changed in Lycius' eyes: "no azure vein...no soft bloom...no passion to illume".
• The quote "May pierce them on the sudden with the thorn / Of painful blindness" creates tragic irony as it is Lycius who is blind to the truth. The mocking of Apollonius parallels that of Christ as he was mocked by the Romans with a crown of thorns.
• Enlightenment is treated as a malign force: "For all thine impious proud-heart sophistries, / Unlawful magic, and enticing lies".
• The phrase "My sweet bride withers at their potency" is tragically ironic.
• The metaphor "He sank supine beside the aching ghost" conveys Lamia's fading from the mortal world, as well as the pain this caused her.
• The simile and tripling "Like a sharp spear, went through her utterly, / Keen, cruel, perceant, stinging" conveys that Lamia is utterly undone.
• The cyclical structure of Lamia's return to her serpent form enhances the idea of doomed love.
• The quote "And, in its marriage robe, the heavy body wound." creates finality through end-stopping and is tragic because marriage robes are supposed to symbolise love and togetherness.