| (The Completed) Christabel by Ralph Hoyte |
track thanks to Digital Cutup Lounge
746B Sessions
746B Sessions
Ralph
Hoyte
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Hoyte
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Romantic Poetry is inextricably associated with the
Quantock Hills in Somerset. It arose out of the
philosophical, poetic and personal preoccupations of
that ‘Golden Triangle’: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William
Wordsworth & Dorothy Wordsworth, who more or less
lived together for extended periods in and near Nether
Stowey (at the end of the 18th century), then in the
English Lakes.
Quantock Hills in Somerset. It arose out of the
philosophical, poetic and personal preoccupations of
that ‘Golden Triangle’: Samuel Taylor Coleridge, William
Wordsworth & Dorothy Wordsworth, who more or less
lived together for extended periods in and near Nether
Stowey (at the end of the 18th century), then in the
English Lakes.
My own personal engagement with Romantic Poetry started with a year-long residency from 2007-2008 with
the Quantocks AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in collaboration with another Bristol-based artist,
Antony Lyons. Until then I had only vaguely known of Coleridge and Wordsworth et al. On 3 October 2007 I
wrote; “Let’s start somewhere. With STC. He strikes me as the brooding presence in the Quantocks, or
maybe he’s just the brooding presence in my mind. The vacillatory nature of the man attracts me, his
inability to finish things, make up his mind (Christabel: unfinished, Kubla Khan: interrupted by the mysterious
‘Man from Porlock’). I seem more in tune with him in his Shaman-like role than with the colder, more
organised, logical, career-oriented Wordsworth…” I went on to say, “What might a modern Romantic poet
(or a Postmodern-Romantic, or a Neo-Romantic or a Disambiguated Romantic or a Pseudo-Romantic Poet)
write about, and in what style?”
the Quantocks AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) in collaboration with another Bristol-based artist,
Antony Lyons. Until then I had only vaguely known of Coleridge and Wordsworth et al. On 3 October 2007 I
wrote; “Let’s start somewhere. With STC. He strikes me as the brooding presence in the Quantocks, or
maybe he’s just the brooding presence in my mind. The vacillatory nature of the man attracts me, his
inability to finish things, make up his mind (Christabel: unfinished, Kubla Khan: interrupted by the mysterious
‘Man from Porlock’). I seem more in tune with him in his Shaman-like role than with the colder, more
organised, logical, career-oriented Wordsworth…” I went on to say, “What might a modern Romantic poet
(or a Postmodern-Romantic, or a Neo-Romantic or a Disambiguated Romantic or a Pseudo-Romantic Poet)
write about, and in what style?”
What indeed? Why – Christabel! I’ll finish Christabel! Slowly the idea grabbed me. I did try to put myself off
it, after all it’s not only lese majeste, aping one of England’s most famous poets but also, I mean, who’s
interested in long, narrative poetry in this fast forward age? And written in an archaic language and style.
Still, I couldn’t resist: Christabel, Geraldine, Sir Leoline of Langdale Hall, Sir Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine
(Triermain, hard on Hadrian’s Wall, actually still exists) and Bracy the bard called to me, begging to be
released from their 200-year limbo. So, over an 8-month period, with constant reference to the original, I
wrote (The Completed) Christabel.
it, after all it’s not only lese majeste, aping one of England’s most famous poets but also, I mean, who’s
interested in long, narrative poetry in this fast forward age? And written in an archaic language and style.
Still, I couldn’t resist: Christabel, Geraldine, Sir Leoline of Langdale Hall, Sir Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine
(Triermain, hard on Hadrian’s Wall, actually still exists) and Bracy the bard called to me, begging to be
released from their 200-year limbo. So, over an 8-month period, with constant reference to the original, I
wrote (The Completed) Christabel.
CLICK ON PICTURE FOR PLOT ETC
PART THE III
In which Bracy the bard spurs northwards to Sir Roland de Vaux’s
redoubt of Tryermaine, nigh on Hadrian’s Wall, and Stuff Happens
PART THE IV
In which Christabel has a troubling dream, the bard Bracy’s life
hangs by a thread and the seduction of Sir Leoline proceeds
apace
PART THE V
In which Christabel seems about ‘to do an Ophelia’, her mother
reappears from the Dead, something (nasty) happens to the
mastiff bitch and Geraldine is forced to show her hand … or
scales.
PART THE VI
In which Bracy returns with Sir Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine, we
find out whether or not Geraldine is really his daughter
(perhaps); and Christabel lets rip against male hierarchies
PART THE VII
In which the hunt rides, everyone dies (perhaps) and The Truth
is revealed (perhaps)
THE CONCLUSION TO ‘CHRISTABEL’
In which Bracy the bard spurs northwards to Sir Roland de Vaux’s
redoubt of Tryermaine, nigh on Hadrian’s Wall, and Stuff Happens
PART THE IV
In which Christabel has a troubling dream, the bard Bracy’s life
hangs by a thread and the seduction of Sir Leoline proceeds
apace
PART THE V
In which Christabel seems about ‘to do an Ophelia’, her mother
reappears from the Dead, something (nasty) happens to the
mastiff bitch and Geraldine is forced to show her hand … or
scales.
PART THE VI
In which Bracy returns with Sir Roland de Vaux of Tryermaine, we
find out whether or not Geraldine is really his daughter
(perhaps); and Christabel lets rip against male hierarchies
PART THE VII
In which the hunt rides, everyone dies (perhaps) and The Truth
is revealed (perhaps)
THE CONCLUSION TO ‘CHRISTABEL’
(THE COMPLETED) CHRISTABEL
Comprising of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s complete original (Parts I-II save his ‘Conclusion to Part 1’) plus
certain additions by Ralph Hoyte (Parts III-VII)
PART THE I
In which Christabel, innocent daughter of Sir Leoline of Langdale Hall, discovers a gentle maid all forlorn alone
in the midnight wood and succours her, but is then ensorcelled
PART THE II
In which that snake in the bosom, Geraldine – ‘sword-bearer’ from the Germanic – wiles her way into Sir
Leolines affections, Christabel is spurned by her sire, and Bracy the bard is entrusted with a Mission
Comprising of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s complete original (Parts I-II save his ‘Conclusion to Part 1’) plus
certain additions by Ralph Hoyte (Parts III-VII)
PART THE I
In which Christabel, innocent daughter of Sir Leoline of Langdale Hall, discovers a gentle maid all forlorn alone
in the midnight wood and succours her, but is then ensorcelled
PART THE II
In which that snake in the bosom, Geraldine – ‘sword-bearer’ from the Germanic – wiles her way into Sir
Leolines affections, Christabel is spurned by her sire, and Bracy the bard is entrusted with a Mission
PERFORMANCE OPTIONS (by 'performance' is meant declamatory
readings by the poet)
readings by the poet)
