Lamia

• 'woman's mouth, with all its pearls complete' - Describing Lamia
• 'the cruel lady, without any show of sorrow for her tender favourite's woe' - Lamia not showing much care for Lycius' well-being
• 'but rather, if her eyes could brighter be' - Lamia enjoys seeing Lycius so vulnerable and easily corruptible
• 'so tangled in her mesh' - Describing Lycius
• 'demon's mistress, or the demon's self' - paints Lamia as a hellish antagonist
• 'that if thou shouldst fade

  Thy memory will waste me to a shade' - Lycius' dependency, foreshadowing
• 'When dreadful guests would come to spoil her solitude' - briefness of their love, Lycius' mortal obligations (marriage) contraines relationship, enjambment of 'solitude' emphasises her loneliness
• 'Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,

  Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,' - orderly logic removes the beauty of negative capability, restricts freedom of the unknown
• 'Lamia, no longer fair, there sat a deadly white,' - last comment on appearance, drained of life, engulfed by fear
• 'gordian shape of dazzling hue' - Describes Lamia
• 'some knotty problem' - gordian knot, Alexander the Great used sword to break, opposite of negative capability, logic is forceful
• Semantic field of heat throughout entire poem - links to passion and desire, but also the flaming hunger of logic and reasoning, threat
• The abundance of mythological references reflects Lamia's otherworldly character and ambiguity.
• Apollonius is named after the Greek god Apollo, who has been described as the god who punishes and destroys the wicked and overbearing.
• Lamia can be viewed as a femme fatale - a beautiful, mysterious seductress whose charms ensnare her lovers.
• 'She writhed about, convulsed with scarlet pain' - physical torment of Lamia's transformation
• 'her eyes followed his steps' - Lamia's predatory nature
• 'his eyes had drunk her beauty up' - negative capability, her beauty is false
• 'if thou shoudst fade thy memory will waste me to a shade' - foreshadowing of Lycius' death, dependence on Lamia
• 'The life she had so tangled in her mesh' - Lamia's control over Lycius
• 'Her fingers pressed hard, as one came near' - Lamia's nervousness in civilised society
• 'cinder, ashes, dust' - destructive nature of love, bleak beginning of Part II
• 'too short was their bliss' - foreshadowing the briefness of their love
• 'for the sage, let spear-grass and the spiteful thistle wage war on his temples' - Apollonius' crown, piercing imagery which threatens their love with logic
• 'Lamia, no longer fair, there sat a deadly white'
• 'serpent's prey', Lamia portrayed as a destructive villain
• 'the sophist's eye, like a sharp spear, went through her utterly', Apollonius' knowledge cuts through her illusion