"Firm flesh to eat, clean blood to drink,
Fitted to make my dear ones thrive,
And yet, since then, I often think—
He was so handsome when alive."
- —The ghoula, twenty-second stanza
"The Ghoula" is a Narrative Poem of twenty-three stanzas by Edward Lucas White. It was written around 1895, but like many poems White wrote in the 1890s, it wasn't published until years later. In the case of "The Ghoula", it took until the 1908 compilation Narrative Lyrics for the public to be granted access to the poem. This publication followed a year after the original publication of "Amina", with whom "The Ghoula" shares "The King's Son and the She-Ghoul" as their uncredited template.
A female ghoul has lost her mate some months ago and has since learned to hunt herself in order to feed their children. Humans are ghouls' primary quarry, but if none are available as suitable prey, the likes of goats and bullocks are good too. In the present, the ghoula has not been able to adequately feed her children for some time when finally she spots a lone English hunter. He is easily lured along by her charm, but the trouble is that he's handsome, speaks Persian, and all-around makes for the kind of company the ghoula's been missing ever since her mate disappeared. Weighing her options, the two come across a doe and the Englishman hesitates to shoot the beautiful creature. The ghoula, charmed by his decision but focused on her children's needs, urges him not to let the doe escape. The Englishman shoots as ordered, but misses. As the doe runs off, the ghoula accepts that she'll have to kill him if she is to save her children from starvation. She brings him back to the ruins where she and her children live, the latter staying in hiding until their mother has secured the prey. The ghoula and the Englishman get amorous and in-between distracting kisses she rends his windpipe open. Her children get to eat that night, but for a long time after the ghoula thinks of what could've been if the Englishman had shot the doe.
In letters sent to Archibald Macmechan on January 27, 1917, to Sally Phillips on September 29, 1917, and to Mrs. Hill on August 06, 1921, Edward Lucas White describes how he composed "The Ghoula" in a week time by utilizing every minute available to him between teaching, commuting, sleeping, and other daily obligations. He credits the inspiration behind the poem to "Her Majesty's Servants", the final story in The Jungle Book by his friend Rudyard Kipling. In it, the following scene occurs:
According to White, the bullocks' fright got him thinking about the relation between prey and predator and what creature could convincingly be humanity's predator. He settled on ghouls, which up until that point had limited presence in American fiction. "The Ghoula" was not to change that, but it did act as the starting point for White's Short Story "Amina", which would go on to be a major influence on ghouls in Western fiction from 1927 onwards.
"The Ghoula" provides examples of the following tropes:
- The Bad Guy Wins: Ghouls eat humans and the ghoula and her children are no different. On her own, the ghoula has managed to lure, kill, and consume many male humans already and the Englishman doesn't find his fate to be different.
- Boy Meets Ghoul: The ghoula more or less experiences love at first sight for the Englishman, his beauty reminding her of all the months she's been alone. She does not want to kill him and encourages him to shoot a doe he's reluctant to make his quarry. When ultimately he misses, she makes up her mind for the sake of her hungry children, but ever since regretfully wishes that the Englishman had been a ghoul himself and had shot the doe.
- Disappeared Dad: The ghoula used to have a mate, but many months prior he "did not return." What happened to him is unknown to her, but he likely died or was killed. Since then, she's done her best to provide for their children, who understand the predicament and behave themselves for their mother's sake.
- False Reassurance: When the Englishman, who doesn't know his companion is a ghoul, fails to shoot the doe, he reassures her: "You may get meat some other way." Intending to eat him instead, the ghoula replies: "Indeed, I rather think I may."
- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted: The Englishman is hunting all alone, looking "for hares or bustards or gazelles," when the ghoula picks him as her own prey. At that point, she's still in doubt if she truly will kill him for food and encourages him to shoot a doe whose meat she can take instead. The Englishman fails due to a moment's hesitation, which seals his fate. The ghoula lures him to her abode and tears open his windpipe.
- Monster Is a Mommy: Although the ghoula feeds on human flesh as much as any ghoul, she has a choice for herself to make do with other meat and forego meals periodically. But as a mother to several little ghouls, she has to ensure they are provided with good food. It is for their sake only that she kills the Englishman she's developed feelings for.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The Englishman hesitates to kill a doe, deeming it a shame "to kill the pretty, dainty thing." The ghoula is moved by his sympathy for would-be prey so alike to the way she has sympathy for him, but her children need the nourishment provided by meat soon, so she urges the Englishman to shoot the doe. He misses, leaving the ghoula no other choice than to kill him for her children's meal.
- Our Ghouls Are Creepier: There are at minimum three ghouls: a mother and several children of hers. The father has gone missing months prior. The mother, while gifted with ghoulish titanic strength, has the appearance of an attractive young woman, which she uses to gain people's trust and lure them to her home in some old ruins for her and her children to feast on.
- Stronger Than They Look: According to the ghoula, all ghouls possess "titanic strength", even if they may look like dainty humans. Not only is her strength useful in the hunt for human flesh, but the fact that no prey suspects that she has that strength at all allows her to catch them off-guard.
- Struggling Single Mother: The ghoula is the mother of at least two children and ever since her mate's disappearance has to balance taking care of them and leaving them alone to get them food. She manages admirably, even if tough spots occur, but something of breaking point happens when she meets the Englishman and finds herself attracted to him. It makes her realize how lonely she's been for months and wish to let him live, but her responsibility to her children takes precedence over her own need for romantic company. She kills him despite knowing well that she'll regret it.
- Tragic Villain: The ghoula has lost her mate and now has to take care of their children all on her own. Although the children behave themselves, it's not easy for her to keep them fed and thriving. It isn't until she lays eyes on the handsome Englishman that she even realizes just how lonely she's been. Although she desires the Englishman as company, her children need food, so she kills him for their sake. For a long time thereafter, she mourns the loss.
- Villain Protagonist: The poem's point-of-view belongs to a human-eating ghoul who also happens to be the one remaining parent to her children. She and her children are a danger to humans, but her responsibilities, struggles, and decisions as a single parent are relatable and sympathetic.
