The Tempestuous Lady Lilith

OR: A smorgasbord of…desire?

Of Adam's first wife, Lilith, it is told

     (The witch he loved before the gift of Eve,)

     That, ere the snake's, her sweet tongue could
      deceive,
And her enchanted hair was the first gold.
And still she sits, young while the earth is old,
     And, subtly of herself contemplative,
     Draws men to watch the bright web she can weave,
Till heart and body and life are in its hold.

The rose and poppy are her flowers; for where
     Is he not found, O Lilith, whom shed scent                   10
And soft-shed kisses and soft sleep shall snare?
     Lo! as that youth's eyes burned at thine, so went
     Thy spell through him, and left his straight neck bent
And round his heart one strangling golden hair.

Rossetti’s painting of a contemporary (Victorian) Lilith, coupled with a marvelous poem that also re-imagines Lilith, struck me as a very thoughtful and beautiful combination of a several complex artistic areas. The poem is based off of the medieval tale of Lilith, the “real” first woman in Genesis, who was made from the same clay as Adam but run off from Eden because she was too headstrong*. So here, Rossetti bases a painting off of a poem that is based off of a fable that is based off of the Old Testament. Ambitious to say the least. Not to mention that in the painting and poem he reconciles Medieval, Romantic, and Victorian principles and melds them together quite nicely. The result is a very complex and intriguing “double work,” but it gives scholars like us a headache trying to decipher all of the influences that went into said work.

The interplay between the poem and painting draws out a theme of decadence that transcends time periods and artistic movements, however. Lilith is staring at herself in a mirror while combing her hair, the personification of Narcissism, “subtly of herself contemplative” (7). The painting is littered with roses and poppies, which are blatant symbols of lust (the red rose, the flower of love) and sensual pleasure (poppies, from which opium is made). And helpfully, the poem states what the painting implies: that Lilith is a tempter and trapper of men. Her tempestuousness is best described in lines eight and nine: “[She] [d]raws men to watch the bright web she can weave, / Till heart and body and life are in its hold.”

What connects the double work to its Victorian audience is the portrayal of Lilith’s hair. As Rossetti remarks that “her enchanted hair was the first gold,” (5) he is tying greed into Lilith’s desirous but evil qualities. The painting emphasizes this, as Lilith’s hair is beautifully detailed (more so than her actual body) and is the center of the action. Hair, as a metaphor for gold, expresses Rossetti’s concern with Victorian materialism. By coupling lustfulness and materialism, he is examining the fundamental theme of unchecked desire, and by evoking the “first woman,” he is reiterating that this desire is as old as the human race. The final two lines seem to be a warning about the consequences of following such desires: “so went / [Lilith’s] spell through him, and left his straight neck bent / And round his heart one strangling golden hair.” Rossetti is simultaneously warning against and admiring the power desire wields over men.

FOOTNOTE: * I had never heard of this interpretation of Genesis, but apparently it exists because of two separate mentions of the creation of woman in the Old Testament: 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them,” and 2:22 “Then God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.” Apparently in between there was Lilith. Who knew?