Reception of Christabel
Wordsworth rejected the poem, leading to a ‘crisis of creativity
Byron admired Christabel and encouraged Coleridge to publish
‘Sweet…
… Christabel’
‘Might wash away…
… her sin unknown’
‘She died…
… the hour I was born’
‘I saw a bright green snake…
… Coiled around its wings and neck’
‘And the ladies eyes…
… Each shrunk up to a serpents eye’
‘Jesu Maria…
… Shield her well’ (narrators voice)