"First, on earth as Vampire sent, My corse shall from its tomb be rent; Then ghastly haunt thy native place, And suck the blood of all thy race; There, from thy daughter, sister, wife, At midnight drain the stream of life; Yet loathe the banquet which perforce Must feed thy livid living corse. Thy victims, ere they yet expire, Shall know the demon for their sire, As cursing thee, thou cursing them, Thy flowers are withered on the stem. But one that for thy crime must fall, The youngest, most beloved of all, Shall bless thee with _a father's_ name-- That word shall wrap thy heart in flame! Yet must thou end thy task, and mark Her cheek's last tinge, her eye's last spark, And the last glassy glance must view Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue; Then with unhallowed hand shall tear The tresses of her yellow hair, Of which in life a lock, when shorn, Affection's fondest pledge was worn, But now is borne away by thee, Memorial of thine agony! Wet with thine one best blood shall drip Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip; Then stalking to thy sullen grave, Go, and with Gouls and Afrits rave; Till there in horror shrink away From spectre more accursed than they!" In a note, the noble poet tells us:--"The Vampire superstition is still general in the Levant." Honest Tournefort tells a long story, which Mr. Southey, in the notes on "Thalaba," quotes, about these Vardoulacha, as he calls them. "I recollect a whole family being terrified by the screams of a child, which they imagined must proceed from such a visitation. The Greeks never mention the word without horror." Bishop Heber describes the Vampire Bat of India as a very harmless creature, entirely different from the formidable idea entertained of it in England. "It only eats fruit and vegetables; indeed, its teeth are not indicative of carnivorous habits; and from blood it turns away when offered to it. During the daytime it is, of course, inert; but at night it is lively, affectionate, and playful, knows its keeper, but has no objection to the approach and touch of others." Mr. Westerton, the traveller, when speaking, in his "Wanderings," of the Vampire of South America, says:--"There are two species in Demerara, both of which suck living animals; one is rather larger than the common Bats, the other measures above two feet from wing to wing, extended. So gently does this nocturnal surgeon draw the blood, that instead of being roused, the patient is lulled into a profound sleep." The large Vampire sucks men, commonly attacking the toes; the smaller seems to confine itself chiefly to birds.