On the Poet
Ø  Coleridge (1772 –1834) was born in the town of Ottery St Mary in Devon, England.

Ø  Coleridge made plans to establish a journal, The Watchman, to be printed every eight days to avoid a weekly newspaper tax.

Ø  Christabel  was reportedly written in 1797

Ø  The poem was first published in the collection of three poems: Christabel; Kubla Khan: A Vision; The Pains of Sleep, in 1816

Ø  He wrote, “I should have more nearly realized my ideal [had they been finished], than I would have done in my first attempt.”

Ø  It has been argued that Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 novel Carmilla is a homage or adaptation of Christabel.

Ø  Christabel: Combination of CHRISTINA and the name suffix bel. This name occurs in medieval literature
Rhyme and Meter
In his preface to the poem, Coleridge claims that he has basically made up the form and meter for this poem. This new poetic form, he claims, is about counting the accents in the words (in other words, where the words are stressed) instead of the syllables.

In Part I, we have the following pattern as per Coleridge:

Tis the middle of the night by the castle clock,
And the owls have awakened the crowing cock; (1-2)

But modern critics have found the poem written mainly in iambic feet
MCQs
1.      When is the story set?

A.    In the medieval period of England

2.     The poem is narrated by

A.    Coleridge

B.     A minstrel

3.     “Tu—whit! Tu—whoo!” ia the sound from

A.      the [tawny] owl

4.     “Hath a toothless mastiff bitch” What does the poet want to convey through such physical description?

A.      Age and impending death

5.     “Four for the quarters, and twelve for the hour.” What is meant by “the hour”?

A.      Midnight [witch hour]

6.     “Ever and aye, by shine and shower.” What does the minstrel mean here?

A.      Throughout the year

7.     “Some say, she sees my lady’s shroud.” What function does this line fulfill?

A.      It creates an element of mystery and the supernatural at the beginning

8.     What function do the archaic words play in the poem?

A.    They evoke an atmosphere of natural out of the supernatural and help Coleridge in enhancing its medieval atmosphere

9.     “Is the night chilly and dark?/ The night is chilly, but not dark.” Why does the minstrel ask a question that he himself answers?

A.      It adds to the individual style of the minstrel and it also emphasizes the fact and draws the listeners into the story

10.   “The thin gray cloud is spread on high,/It covers but not hides the sky….The moon is behind, and at the full…And yet she looks both small and dull.” What do such images convey?

A.      The arrival of evil is conveyed through a reflection in the natural world

11.     “Whom her father loves so well.” What kind of statement is this?

A.      Dramatic irony [since her father will be after Geraldine and neglect her in the second part]

12.    “A furlong from the castle gate?” How long is a furlong?

A.    220 yards

13.    What are the pagan elements in the poem?

A.    The oak tree and the mistletoe

14.   What pagan ritual does the poet suggest here?

A.    That of the Druids

15.    What does “The one red leaf, the last of its clan” suggest?

A.      The vulnerability of Christabel indirectly

16.   “Jesu” is the vocative form of Jesus, and it comes from the Latin biblical texts that were common in the Church of England.

17.    “Maria” is also the Latin spelling of Mary.

18.   How can one interpret the relationship of Christabel and Geraldine today?

A.    As a potential form of lesbianism

19.   “Then Christabel stretched forth her hand.” What does the stretching of the hand indicate?

A.      Acceptance/invitation of Evil

20.  “To guide and guard you safe and free/Home to your noble father’s hall.” What tradition is here spoken of?

A.      Chivalry 

21.    Note the figure of speech: “Lifted her up, a weary weight”

22.   “So free from danger, free from fear.” What does the minstrel convey here?

A.      A subtle sense that Christabel is in real danger

23.   Because Geraldine is an evil spirit

·       she cannot cross the iron get herself

·       she cannot pray to the Virgin Mother

·       the mastiff makes an angry moan

·       there can “A tongue of light, a fit of flame”

·       She sinks down on the floor after watching the figure of an angel

24.  And now they pass the Baron’s room,
As still as death, with stifled breath! What does the poet mean here?

A.      Insert a subtle sense of death and decay

25.   Behold! her bosom and half her side—
A sight to dream of, not to tell! What does the mistrel suggest here?

A.      Some ghastly sight [Coleridge modified the lines later]

26.  “A star hath set, a star hath risen,

By tairn and rill,
The night-birds all that hour were still.
But now they are jubilant anew,
From cliffand tower, tu—whoo! tu—whoo!
Tu—whoo! tu—whoo! from wood and fell!”

What does the description suggest here?

A.      Regeneration and renew of life at dawn

27.   “As infants at a sudden light!” The line suggest that

A.      Christabel was having a dream of a saintly figure

28.  That saints will aid if men will call:
For the blue sky bends over all!

What does the blue sky suggest?

A.      The benevolence of god

29.  Each matin bell, the Baron saith,
Knells us back to a world of death.

What was matin bell?

A.      The matin bell was the daily call to morning prayer.

30.  What is the name of the narrator?

A.    Bracy

31.    What is the name of Geraldine’s father, according to her?

A.      Lord Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine

32.   Sir Leoline, a moment’s space,
Stood gazing on the damsel’s face”

A.      The word ‘gaze’ here betrays the baron’s sexual desire