After these speculations there is an enumeration of various continuations and parodies of the poem, some mentioned by Rossetti, others by Mr. Hall Caine.
Unfortunately these references are so vague that it is impossible to trace some of the articles mentioned.
Thus, it is said the Morning Post about 1820 contained a continuation of Christabel, also that there were parodies in The Quarterly, The Examiner, and The Monthly Magazine, but no indication is given of the dates, or volumes, in which they appeared.
In 1816 a clever parody was printed in London entitled “Christabess, by S. T. Colebritche, Esq., a right woeful Poem, translated from the doggerel by Sir Vinegar Sponge.” 8vo. Unfortunately no copy of this scarce pamphlet is to be found in the British Museum Library; it is said to be very funny, even Coleridge himself quoted it as an admirable parody. The name of the author of Christabess was never divulged.
It is difficult to parody Christabel successfully. Even the attempt contained in The Poetic Mirror, although written by one who was himself a poet, James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, was an interesting imitation, without invention, or suitable application of style. It was entitled Isabelle, the same volume contained another imitation of Coleridge’s style The Cherub, which was somewhat more successful, but neither poem is of sufficient interest to reprint. The Poetic Mirror was published in London in 1816.
Christabel has also been parodied in German.
“Chrystabelle; or, the Rose without a Thorn” is the title of an extravaganza written by the late Edmund Falconer, and produced at the Lyceum Theatre, London, December 26, 1860, it does not, however, bear any resemblance to Coleridge’s poem.
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A Vision.