A third – and very famous – poem written in this period was Die Braut von Corinth by that master of the German language, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe50. It is clearly inspired by the tale of Philinnion (from Phlegon Aelius von Tralles’ Concerning Wondrous Things)51 which is not a vampire story, but rather a tale in which the daughter of the house, who had died six months previously, visits a young man who is a guest, and the two of them share amorous caresses and exchange love tokens. The young man is unaware that the damsel with whom he is making love is actually dead. When the girl is discovered by her parents, she reproaches them for not allowing her a few moments of bliss, and falls down onto the bed, a corpse.
There is no hint of vampirism in the girl’s visit, but the motif of the returning dead has already gained an erotic quality unknown to the Slavs in their folklore.
In Goethe’s poem, an element of vampirism is indeed present, for the visits of the daughter are not so harmless as Philinnion’s. She indirectly admits to the young man that she is dead, to which his reply is, “Hoffe doch bei mir noch zu erwarmen, / wärst du selbst mir aus dem Grab gesandt!” (Hope then to be warmed by me / even were you brought out of the grave!) With pallid lips she drinks with pleasure from the “dunkel blutgefarbten Wein” (dark blood-coloured wine), but refuses even the smallest portion of white bread that the young man offers her.
Once the pair is discovered by the mother, the girl speaks of having been forced to wander from her grave because of her mother’s broken oath, forced to feel eternal love for her betrothed (the young man is he to whom she had been betrothed in infancy), and she adds, “Schöner Jüngling! – kannst nicht länger leben; du versiechest nun an diesem Ort.” (Beautiful youth! – you shall live no more; you will perish in this place.”) The poem finishes with the girl’s request that the mother open up her grave, and with fierce flames give rest to the lovers.
The full German text is available online52, and the English translation of 1797 is also available online53. It conveys the sense, if not the actual words, of Goethe’s poem.
A trend is clearly emerging in these German poems. A spirit of Romanticism has taken and mutated the vampire element, causing it to become love-drenched, tinged or even saturated with eroticism. That this metamorphosis affected the vampire in English literature is beyond question.
51 Phlegon. “Concerning Wondrous Things.” Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum. Paris, 1849.
52 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. "Die Braut von Corinth." The Lied and Art Song Texts Page. 27 Jan. 2006 <http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=6491&Transliterate=0>.
53 Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von. "Poems of Goethe - The Bride of Corinth." EveryPoet. 1797. 27 Jan. 2006 <http://www.everypoet.com/archive/poetry/Goethe/goethe_the_bride_of_corinth.htm>.