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''The Curse of Kehama'' is an 1810 epic poem composed by Robert Southey. The origins of the poem can be traced to Southey's schoolboy days when he suffered from insomnia, along with his memories of a dark and mysterious schoolmate that later formed the basis for one of the poem's villains. The poem was started in 1802 following the publication of Southey's epic ''Thalaba the Destroyer''. After giving up on the poem for a few years, he returned to it after prompting by the poet Walter Savage Landor encouraged him to complete his work. When it was finally published, it sold more copies than his previous works. The poem is divided into twelve "books". Its first half describes how the evil priest Kehama is able to gain significant amounts of demonic power in a quest to become a god. This is interrupted when his son Arvalan is killed after attempting to have his way with Kailyal, a peasant girl. After the death of his son, Kehama begins to wage war upon Yamen, the god of death, and curses Ladurlad, his son's killer. However, the curse allows Ladurlad the ability to become a hero of significant strength, and he uses that power to work with the Hindu gods in a quest to defeat Kehama and ensure the safety of Kailyal. Eventually, Ladurlad is able to defeat Kehama and is freed from his curse. Although the poem describes Hindu myth it is heavily influenced by Zoroastrian theology, and the ideal of a dualistic moral system. Part of Southey's focus on India stems from the recent British colonial expansion into India and the increasing interest by British citizens in Indian culture. Critics gave the work mixed reviews; many praisied the quality of the poem's language, but others felt that the plot or choice of subject matter was lacking. ==Background== The basis for Southey wishing to write an epic poem came from his private reading of literature while attending Westminster School as a boy.〔Spech 2006 p. 17〕 It is possible that Southey, during this time, had problems sleeping and that an inability to sleep served as inspiration for the topic of ''Kehama''. Additionally, a boy Southey met while at school, who looked like a fiend according to Southey's account, served as a prototype for the dark and mysterious character Arvalan.〔Bernhardt-Kabisch 1977 p. 16〕 By 1802, Southey spent his time writing the poem along with other projects following the publication of ''Thalaba the Destroyer''. This continued into 1806, when the epic was worked on alongside other works, such as a translation of ''El Cid'' and a history of Portugal.〔Spech 2006 p. 96, 116〕 It was not until 1808 that Southey attempted to finish ''Kehma'', which came after him almost abandoning poetry because of the reception of ''Thalaba'' and ''Madoc''. In particular, fellow poet Landor encouraged Southey to complete the epic along with writing the work ''Roderick the Last of the Goths''. This effort continued through 1808, and he was able to complete 3,000 lines of the poem. However, he was interrupted in his work at the end of the year by an illness that plagued his family and kept him away from writing for two months. In March 1809, Walter Scott requested Southey to send him some excerpts from the work. Southey complied and the lines were sent for Scott's collection, ''English Minstrelsy''. The poem was finished by 1810 and,〔Bernhardt-Kabisch 1977 p. 95〕 by 1811, ''Kehama'' was selling more copies than ''Thalaba'' sold.〔Spech 2006 pp. 126, 130–131, 143〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Curse of Kehama」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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