A passage from Lord Byron’s, “The Giaour”, caught my attention it reads:
“But first, on earth as vampire sent/ Thy corse shall from be rent:/Then ghastly haunt thy native place/And suck the blood of all thy race/ There from thy daughter, sister, wife/ At midnight drain the stream of life;/ Yet loathe the banquet which perforce/ Must feed they livid living corse:/ Thy victims ere they yet expire/ Shall know the demon for their sire, / As cursing thee, thou cursing them”
This is the first text that we’ve read in class that mentions vampires by name. What I find interesting about this passage in particular is the way vampirism is deemed as a punishment. This person is being risen from the dead to kill and drink the blood of his loved ones. The
“But first, on earth as vampire sent/ Thy corse shall from be rent:/Then ghastly haunt thy native place/And suck the blood of all thy race/ There from thy daughter, sister, wife/ At midnight drain the stream of life;/ Yet loathe the banquet which perforce/ Must feed they livid living corse:/ Thy victims ere they yet expire/ Shall know the demon for their sire, / As cursing thee, thou cursing them”
This is the first text that we’ve read in class that mentions vampires by name. What I find interesting about this passage in particular is the way vampirism is deemed as a punishment. This person is being risen from the dead to kill and drink the blood of his loved ones. The