Conflating the Real and the Horrific in "Lenora"

Eighteenth-century readers were intrigued with the macabre possibilities of mankind, and authors indulged this fascination through tales of grotesque transformation blending reality and Gothic fantasy. Bürger’s ballad “Lenora” combines tenets from the Latinate allegorical tradition with popularized themes of hell to convey the religious warning: “Be patient, tho’thyne herte should breke/ Arrayne not Heven’s decree” (261-262).

            

Inconsolable after her knight fails to return, Lenora renounces her faith in God. When a knight she believes to be William appears, however, she gladly flees with him, and Bürger elevates the excitement of their night flight by repeating lines, such as “Unheeding wet or drye” and “And sparkling pebbles flye.” Lenora’s passion quickly turns to horror as the rider’s human exterior dissolves to reveal the personification of Death. Like the antique fables imbued with allegories to persuade religious adherence, Death is victorious because Lenora abandoned Christian faith. The final scene is uniquely Romantic, however, because Bürger describes a nightmarish reality using visual stimulants like the rider’s melting façade and auditory enhancements, such as the “hollow howlings” and “shrekes from vaults,” thus creating a scene juxtaposing the real and the horrific—the pinnacle of horrific Romanticism (253-254).