Rough draft
Wingbeat from a High BalconyA tale or a dream
His own other life seemed
As he slunk through the shadows of might
Barely remembered
That fateful November,
When dark swallowed all of the light
The bite.
The pain speading through him,
The poisonous fangs dripping red.
As twilight consumed him,
he looked at what doomed him,
And these are the words that it said:
Creature of night,
Take heart,
Take flight.
You're free now to do what you will.
No morals, no life,
To live and in strife,
Your pleasure will come from the kill.
As he had been fated,
He gorged and he sated
His thirst on the blood of the living
warm, dark and red,
unaware of the curse they were giving.
Unliving.
He longed from the killing,
And in each waking moment it grew.
The feeling of spite
For all that was right
As his soul frosted over anew.
So now in the dark
He waits for the spark
Of a life that is ripe for the taking.
He longs from the day
And he can't get away
from a trance that's not sleeping or walking
Lonely,
He wonders if only
The kiss of the sun would bring peace
And so, come the morning
Despite instrict's warning,
He'll lie down and hope for release.
This poem was written by a young writer named Maeve 104. Since I don't know his/her true identity, I can't say anything about him/her. This poem has a rhyme, and in the form of ABA.
This poem talks about a vampire in the night, looking for his next victim. According to the wikipedia, "The vampire is a monster that has both thrilled and terrified people for hundreds of years, from sophisticated Parisian theatre-goers to quaking eastern European peasants. Many elaborate rituals were used to identify a vampire. Corpses though to be vampires were generally described as having a healthier appearance than expected, plump and showing little or no signs of decomposition. When graves opened, some villigers would see these bodies with having fresh blood from a victim all over it's face."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/vampires.
There are many symbolisms around this poem. One of the symbols that he used was red. Red can be used to determine love, lust and also blood.(
http://en.wikipedia.org./wiki/Red) Well, blood is used in this poem quite often. For a vampire, blood gives him/her life and also increases their chances of being alive and increases their powers. According to an online source, "the vampire's communion is an inversion of the Christian's one. Rather than drinking Christ's immortal blood, the vampire drinks the blood of the mortal. Rather enjoying his eternal life in the hereafter, he spends it on earth".
http://vampires.monstrous.com/blood.htm. Symbolism is when the writer uses symbols or terms that would stand for something else. For example, in this poem, the writer uses the symbol bat for vampire. He writes that since bats symbolize death and rebirth. Sometimes, they are known as the "Guardian of the night".
http://symbolism.wikia.com/wiki/Bat.
The tone is the what the writer is trying to show through emotions or feelings. This poem contains feelings of a vampire, a creature that is always hunted by society. He's not free; he is always hunted by the people who hate or fear him.
The vampire is commonly considered to be one who exists in the state of "living, death", literally a re-animated corpse. Some traditions have it that a vampire is a corpse inhabited by an alien demon, others, that it is a corpse in the possession of a sorceror as a "familiar", and still others, by far the majority, which describe the vampire as a body possessed by the soul it had in life. Whatever the means of animation, the vampire is one who once lived, diead a corporeal death, and then rose from the grave to walk the earth and haunts the living. He inhabits the grave of his burial during the day and roams at night. The purpose of his wandering is the attainment of that which will maintain his "living-death" state. He seeks blood, the life-fluid of the living, to rgain his own vitality. Having drunk blood of a living being, the vampire, previously a freshless and bloodless ghastly figure gains the corporeal qualities of human life and health: extreme strength, the power of speech, the ability to take in food and to beget children. The vampire is one who once lived, died a corporeal death and then rose from the grave to walk the earth and haunts the living. He inhabits the grave of his burial during the day and roams at night. (
http://kekrops.tripod.com/Mythology_Vampire.html).
A vampire is a creature not entirely understood by the society and people of not being bitten by a pure blood vampire do not really understand them and see them as monsters. A vampire is described as a creature of the night, since vampires come out only during the night and sleep during the day. The writer writes about it in the last stanza "the kiss of the sun would bring peace, and so, come the morning. Despite instinct's warning, He'll lie down and hope for a release." What that means is that during the day, vampires are afraid of the sun and will burn if they are outside. That's why they are in their coffins during the day. That's why due to the sun's rays, they only come out during the night. Same thing with the bat. A vampire is a creature that looks into the night and sometimes cannot be spotted quickly by a human eye. He has enhanced senses, which he uses to stalk his prey. They are not only intelligent and smart, but also fast and strong. He uses his fangs as a weapon to suck blood from his victims and sometimes make them immortal as he/she is. Sometimes people would seemed to realize that vampires are around them, but not for long; people would see them, but seconds later, they will disappear, without being seen or spotted by the mortal public. They will turn into bats and fly out of sight, inot the night. During the day, people wouldn't actually be able to see them since they might be recharging from the night before. They would be in their coffins, sleeping, like the dead would be until they're reborn again. Vampires were hunted for many generations. That's why most of them hide beyond the reach of humans, which would be abandoned churches, empty cemeteries, rooftops and other places where they can be safe. This poem also talks about someone being bitten by a vampire and how it felt. They experienced it as cold, fearing and unnatural. Vampires have no life since they are immortal.
Work cited
"Red" Wikipedia Online. Wikipedia 19 April 2010 (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red)
"Wingsbeat on a high balcony" by Maeve 104, August 28th, 2008 http://
www.elftown.com/_Vampire%20poetry"The Mythology of the Vampire" by Karen Thompson
http://kekrops.tripod.com/Mythology_Vampire.htmlSymbolism of a Bat, Symbolism Wikipedia Online, Symbolism Wiki, March 31,2010
www.symbolism.wikia.com/wiki/Bat
