"Lamia" is a

narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...

poem written by the English poet

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tub ...

, which first appeared in the volume ''Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St Agnes and Other Poems'', published in July 1820. The poem was written in 1819, during the famously productive period that produced his 1819 odes. It was composed soon after his "

La Belle Dame sans Merci "La Belle Dame sans Merci" ("The Beautiful Lady without Mercy") is a ballad produced by the English poet John Keats in 1819. The title was derived from the title of a 15th-century poem by Alain Chartier called '' La Belle Dame sans Mercy ...

" and his odes on Melancholy, on Indolence, on a Grecian Urn and to a Nightingale and just before "

To Autumn "To Autumn" is a poetry, poem by English Romanticism, Romantic poet John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821). The work was composed on 19 September 1819 and published in 1820 in a volume of Keats's poetry that included ''Lamia (poem), ...

Plot

The poem tells how the god

Hermes Hermes (; ) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology considered the herald of the gods. He is also widely considered the protector of human heralds, travelers, thieves, merchants, and orators. He is able to move quic ...

hears of a

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

who is more beautiful than all. Hermes, searching for the nymph, instead comes across

Lamia Lamia (; ), in ancient Greek mythology, was a child-eating monster and, in later tradition, was regarded as a type of night-haunting spirit or "daimon". In the earliest myths, Lamia was a beautiful queen of ancient Libya who had an affair with ...

, trapped in the form of a serpent. She reveals the previously invisible nymph to him and in return he restores her human form. She goes to seek a youth of

Corinth Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...

, Lycius, while Hermes and his nymph depart together into the woods. The relationship between Lycius and Lamia, however, is destroyed when the sage

Apollonius Apollonius () is a masculine given name which may refer to: People Ancient world Artists * Apollonius of Athens (sculptor) (fl. 1st century BC) * Apollonius of Tralles (fl. 2nd century BC), sculptor * Apollonius (satyr sculptor) * Apo ...

reveals Lamia's true identity at their wedding feast, whereupon she seemingly disappears and Lycius dies of grief.

Analysis

According to Michael O'Neill, Lamia in the poem "is treated ambivalently but with considerable sympathy", making "a sharp contrast with the more leisurely and seemingly uncritical use of romance in hetwo narrative poems that follow ... the hapless Lycius is caught between the reductive rationalism of Apollonius and the bewitching illusoriness of Lamia."

Influence

At the "immortal dinner party" held by Benjamin Haydon on 28 December 1817, Keats agreed with

Charles Lamb Charles Lamb (10 February 1775 – 27 December 1834) was an English essayist, poet, and antiquarian, best known for his '' Essays of Elia'' and for the children's book '' Tales from Shakespeare'', co-authored with his sister, Mary Lamb (1764� ...

that Newton "had destroyed all the poetry of the rainbow, by reducing it to the prismatic colours". Keats's poem had a deep influence on

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

's sonnet " To Science", specifically this passage's discussion of the baleful effects of "cold philosophy": Poe's closing lines also echo several lines near the middle of "Lamia". The book '' Unweaving the Rainbow'' by

Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...

takes its title from the above-quoted passage: it is an explicit attempt to demonstrate that this view of "cold philosophy" is incorrect and that science reveals, rather than destroys, the true beauty of the natural world. The "cold philosopher" Apollonius kills both Lycius and Lamia. The poem also inspired

symphonic poem A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. The German term ( ...

s by

Edward MacDowell Edward Alexander MacDowell (December 18, 1860January 23, 1908) was an American composer and pianist of the late Romantic period. He was best known for his second piano concerto and his piano suites '' Woodland Sketches'', ''Sea Pieces'' and ''Ne ...

(1888) and Dorothy Howell (1918).Dorothy Howell. ''Lamia'', score (Novello) at Music Sales
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Productions

The poem was dramatised on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

on 1 January 2010 on the ''Afternoon Play'' series (later re-broadcast on 5 January 2012). The production was directed by Susan Roberts with original music composed and performed by John Harle. The cast included: *

Paterson Joseph Paterson Davis Joseph (born 22 June 1964) is a British actor and author. Joseph appeared in the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) productions of ''King Lear'' and ''Love's Labour's Lost'' in 1990. On television he is best known for his roles in '' ...

...... Narrator * Charlotte Emmerson ...... Lamia * Tom Ferguson ...... Lycius * Jonathan Keeble ...... Hermes/Apollonius * Sarah Leonard ...... Singer

References

External links

* *
BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play: ''Lamia''
* {{John Keats 1820 poems Poetry by John Keats English poetry collections Hermes Greek and Roman deities in fiction Lamia