Poet’s Corner: Coleridge–Christabel 7

22 May 2026

(27 February 2015) Happy Friday to all! We return to Coleridge’s strange, unfinished poem, “Christabel,” in which the narrator begins to describe the lady’s (Christabel’s) chamber; we remind all that last time we saw the two ladies ‘sneaking’ through the castle, so as not to wake her father, concluding with the strange description of ‘walking’ as ‘pressing down upon the floor.’ Now we see the moon shining into the room, revealing the fanciful carvings upon the wall:

The moon shines dim in the open air,
And not a moonbeam enters here.
But they without its light can see
The chamber carved so curiously,
Carved with figures strange and sweet,
All made out of the carver’s brain,
For a lady’s chamber meet:
The lamp with twofold silver chain
Is fastened to an angel’s feet.

The silver lamp burns dead and dim;
But Christabel the lamp will trim.
She trimmed the lamp, and made it bright,
And left it swinging to and fro,
While Geraldine, in wretched plight,
Sank down upon the floor below.

O weary lady, Geraldine,
I pray you, drink this cordial wine!
It is a wine of virtuous powers;
My mother made it of wild flowers.

First, we see that the figures carved on the wall all emanate from the ‘carver’s brain,’ which tells us that they are fanciful & fantastic, but appropriate for a lady’s chamber: unicorns and dancing sprites come immediately to mind! Further, there is a lamp with a double-chain, hung from the feet of an angel–likely another of the fanciful carvings adorning the walls (which must be made of wood). Christabel lights the lamp, and we see the weary and wretched Geraldine sinking onto the floor. Our heroine, as a good hostess should, offers refreshment–a cordial wine, made by her mother from wild flowers. This figure is curious, for it hints that Christabel’s mother was something more than wife, mother, and woman, that she somehow had the power to imbue this wine in such a way that it will restore Geraldine’s health. Hm, strange, but we will have to wait until next time to find out more! Good reading!