Poet’s Corner: Coleridge–Christabel 18

17 June 2026

(15 May 2015) We greet all as we return to Coleridge’s “Christabel,” a supernatural, if unfinished, poem about a lady and her tormentor. Last time, we saw Christabel awakened by Geraldine, who looks better today than last night, calling subtle attention to the fact that she now has some hold over our heroine, who now rises:

And in low faltering tones, yet sweet,
Did she the lofty lady greet
With such perplexity of mind
As dreams too lively leave behind.

So quickly she rose, and quickly arrayed
Her maiden limbs, and having prayed
That He, who on the cross did groan,
Might wash away her sins unknown,
She forthwith led fair Geraldine
To meet her sire, Sir Leoline.

With tones both ‘sweet’ and ‘faltering’–an odd combination–our heroine greets her guest; we are told the reason for her ‘faltering’ tones is a ‘perplexity of mind’, caused by ‘dreams too lively.’ We must ask ourselves what would be considered ‘dreams too lively,’ and we must look to the time of Coleridge to answer. Lively dreams would have been ‘naughty’ dreams, causing her to be, not only perplexed, but also to ask for immediate forgiveness for ‘her sins unknown.’ We also learn, with this declaration of the cross and washing away sins, that Christabel is Christian in her beliefs and actions. However, we still must ask what are these secret sins? We cannot but help associate these ‘sins’ to whatever happened between the ladies on the previous night, as they lay down to sleep. ‘Sins’ of this kind, sins known only to the sinner, are not unknown, for there is a second party/participant in these sins, and so, in spite of all that anyone does to hide the sins, they always come to light and at the worst possible moment! One needs only look to the realm of politics and popular figures to see this scenario repeated over and over again. We live in a world where information rules, some call it the “Age of Information”; in such an age, there are no secrets, no matter how carefully we speak, act, and write, all our worst, most secret acts and ideas are laid bare for all to see. The only way to avoid such public revelation is never to do anything we don’t want others to learn about us, to live exemplary lives–a difficult proposition during the best of times! Come back Friday for more of this strange poem by Coleridge. Good reading!