The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was Coleridge's longest major poem that was written in 1797-1798 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. The poem reflects all the supernatural events that a mariner experiences on a long and tedious sea voyage. The poem begins with the mariner stopping a wedding guest on his way to a wedding ceremony in order to narrate his tale of agony. The mariner’s tale is about a ship which leaves its native harbor. Initially, all goes well and the ship smoothly sails across the seas. However, misfortune strikes as the voyage darkens and the ship is caught in ice. An albatross appears in the scene and it leads the ship out of the ice. However, the mariner shoots the bird for reasons unknown. This act of killing the bird invites the wrath of the supernatural spirits who then pursue the ship. The ship is lead from ice to uncharted waters, where the sailors are tormented by thirst. As a reaction to their horrible state, they blame the mariner and hang the corpse of the albatross around the mariner’s neck. Hopes of salvation run high when everyone on board notices a tiny speck which they imagine to be a ship. However, as it draws closer they realize that it is a skeleton (Death) and a nightmare (Life in Death) on board the skeletal skull of a ship. They were playing dice for the souls of the crew of the ship and Death wins over the lives of the crew members. All the crew members drop dead one by one, but the mariner survives while experiencing a fate worse than death as punishment for his killing of the albatross. At last as soon as the moon rose, the mariner sees the water snakes that move through the silvery moonlight, and instantly he blesses those beautiful creatures of the sea. The albatross falls from his neck symbolizing that his guilt is expiated to a great extent. The body of the crew possessed by good spirits rise and the mariner falls into a trance. He is quite unaware of what happened until he hears the voices of two angelic spirits whose conversation reveals that the ship was maneuvered by heavenly forces. The mariner gets out of his trance, and when he awakes the spell breaks and he finds himself among his dear and familiar landmarks. The angelic spirits depart from the bodies of the crew and standing on top of each lifeless form was a seraph man. The mariner is pulled into a boat and he is rescued. The mariner pleads to the Holy Hermit to bless him and purge him off his sin. As soon as the man of God asked him what kind of man he was, an agony of spirit prompts the ancient mariner to narrate his tale. This provides him with a sense of relief for a brief period from the curse of remembrance. Thus, the ancient mariner winds up his story. He tells the wedding guest that ever since the Holy Man had blessed him, he has been obliged to traverse across lands, being unaware of when his agony of remembrance might return. But, whenever the curse weighs on his soul, he recognizes the face of a man with whom he must share his measure of love and reverence for God’s creation. The wedding guest eventually does not attend the wedding. So, moved is he by the tale of the ancient mariner that he departs a sadder and wiser man.
Themes: 1)Nature's Beauty/Nature's Violence 3)Element of Mystery 4) Imagination 5)Super-naturalism 6) Divine Retribution
Poetic Structure: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a ballad, a kind of poem that tells a story. Coleridge divides the poem into seven parts. Most stanzas within the poem have four lines, called a “quatrain”. In four line stanzas, the second and fourth lines usually rhyme. However, there are not always four lines, some stanzas in the poems have as many as five or six lines. In five and six line stanzas the second or third line usually rhymes with the last line. The meter alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
.......1.................2...............3...............4
"The SUN..|..now ROSE..|..up ON..|..the RIGHT:............(tetrameter)
.....1..............2...............3
Out OF..|..the SEA..|..came HE,.....................................(trimeter)
......1..............2...............3...............4
Still HID..|..in MIST,..|..and ON..|..the LEFT...................(tetrameter)
.........1................2.............3
Went DOWN..|..in TO..|..the SEA...................................(trimeter)
Connection with Coleridge's Life: This poem incorporates Coleridge's religious beliefs. Coleridge became known in the Victorian period as one of the most important for his liberal Anglican point of view. But in 1796-97 he was a Unitarian preacher. He returned to the Church of England in 1814. Coleridge’s The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, presents a worldview that religiously positions humans as connected to the natural world. The text presents man and his relationship to the natural world as elements of an integrated system completed by Christian morality. Ultimately Coleridge’s romantic compilation asserts that man can only achieve salvation through reverence to the summation of God’s creations; man must venerate nature as God’s creation in order to attain salvation. Coleridge utilizes a parting statement from the mariner to the wedding guest in order to define the religious implications in his text. First, man's struggle to survive in nature is representative of the struggle man undergoes in connecting with God through prayer. Second, through struggle man empowers himself with the same love God has for the beautiful world He created. Third, salvation in Gods eyes is the byproduct of achieving a life of struggle, love, and interaction with nature. Finally, Coleridge’s religious worldview is ultimately optimistic; nonetheless, he leaves the poem acknowledging that mortal life is represented by continuous acts of faith in order to gain salvation.
Connection with Romanticism: Many of the characteristics of Coleridge’s works in general, are portrayed throughout The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The element of mystery is evident throughout this poem. The descriptions of characters, such as the Ancient Mariner evoke mystery. In his poem, Coleridge incorporated the use of archaic words and spellings as a method to break away from reality and to capture a distinct period in history that was far less complicated. Coleridge chose to incorporate words such as: "gossamers" in place of cob webs, "spectre-bark" instead of ghosts, and "corses" denoting corpses into his poem to enhance its literary mysticicm and timeless appeal (Coleridge, 435, 439).
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was Coleridge's longest major poem that was written in 1797-1798 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. The poem reflects all the supernatural events that a mariner experiences on a long and tedious sea voyage. The poem begins with the mariner stopping a wedding guest on his way to a wedding ceremony in order to narrate his tale of agony. The mariner’s tale is about a ship which leaves its native harbor. Initially, all goes well and the ship smoothly sails across the seas. However, misfortune strikes as the voyage darkens and the ship is caught in ice. An albatross appears in the scene and it leads the ship out of the ice. However, the mariner shoots the bird for reasons unknown. This act of killing the bird invites the wrath of the supernatural spirits who then pursue the ship. The ship is lead from ice to uncharted waters, where the sailors are tormented by thirst. As a reaction to their horrible state, they blame the mariner and hang the corpse of the albatross around the mariner’s neck. Hopes of salvation run high when everyone on board notices a tiny speck which they imagine to be a ship. However, as it draws closer they realize that it is a skeleton (Death) and a nightmare (Life in Death) on board the skeletal skull of a ship. They were playing dice for the souls of the crew of the ship and Death wins over the lives of the crew members. All the crew members drop dead one by one, but the mariner survives while experiencing a fate worse than death as punishment for his killing of the albatross. At last as soon as the moon rose, the mariner sees the water snakes that move through the silvery moonlight, and instantly he blesses those beautiful creatures of the sea. The albatross falls from his neck symbolizing that his guilt is expiated to a great extent. The body of the crew possessed by good spirits rise and the mariner falls into a trance. He is quite unaware of what happened until he hears the voices of two angelic spirits whose conversation reveals that the ship was maneuvered by heavenly forces. The mariner gets out of his trance, and when he awakes the spell breaks and he finds himself among his dear and familiar landmarks. The angelic spirits depart from the bodies of the crew and standing on top of each lifeless form was a seraph man. The mariner is pulled into a boat and he is rescued. The mariner pleads to the Holy Hermit to bless him and purge him off his sin. As soon as the man of God asked him what kind of man he was, an agony of spirit prompts the ancient mariner to narrate his tale. This provides him with a sense of relief for a brief period from the curse of remembrance. Thus, the ancient mariner winds up his story. He tells the wedding guest that ever since the Holy Man had blessed him, he has been obliged to traverse across lands, being unaware of when his agony of remembrance might return. But, whenever the curse weighs on his soul, he recognizes the face of a man with whom he must share his measure of love and reverence for God’s creation. The wedding guest eventually does not attend the wedding. So, moved is he by the tale of the ancient mariner that he departs a sadder and wiser man.
Themes: 1)Nature's Beauty/Nature's Violence 3)Element of Mystery 4) Imagination 5)Super-naturalism 6) Divine Retribution
Poetic Structure: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a ballad, a kind of poem that tells a story. Coleridge divides the poem into seven parts. Most stanzas within the poem have four lines, called a “quatrain”. In four line stanzas, the second and fourth lines usually rhyme. However, there are not always four lines, some stanzas in the poems have as many as five or six lines. In five and six line stanzas the second or third line usually rhymes with the last line. The meter alternates between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter.
.......1.................2...............3...............4
"The SUN..|..now ROSE..|..up ON..|..the RIGHT:............(tetrameter)
.....1..............2...............3
Out OF..|..the SEA..|..came HE,.....................................(trimeter)
......1..............2...............3...............4
Still HID..|..in MIST,..|..and ON..|..the LEFT...................(tetrameter)
.........1................2.............3
Went DOWN..|..in TO..|..the SEA...................................(trimeter)
Connection with Coleridge's Life: This poem incorporates Coleridge's religious beliefs. Coleridge became known in the Victorian period as one of the most important for his liberal Anglican point of view. But in 1796-97 he was a Unitarian preacher. He returned to the Church of England in 1814. Coleridge’s The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, presents a worldview that religiously positions humans as connected to the natural world. The text presents man and his relationship to the natural world as elements of an integrated system completed by Christian morality. Ultimately Coleridge’s romantic compilation asserts that man can only achieve salvation through reverence to the summation of God’s creations; man must venerate nature as God’s creation in order to attain salvation. Coleridge utilizes a parting statement from the mariner to the wedding guest in order to define the religious implications in his text. First, man's struggle to survive in nature is representative of the struggle man undergoes in connecting with God through prayer. Second, through struggle man empowers himself with the same love God has for the beautiful world He created. Third, salvation in Gods eyes is the byproduct of achieving a life of struggle, love, and interaction with nature. Finally, Coleridge’s religious worldview is ultimately optimistic; nonetheless, he leaves the poem acknowledging that mortal life is represented by continuous acts of faith in order to gain salvation.
Connection with Romanticism: Many of the characteristics of Coleridge’s works in general, are portrayed throughout The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The element of mystery is evident throughout this poem. The descriptions of characters, such as the Ancient Mariner evoke mystery. In his poem, Coleridge incorporated the use of archaic words and spellings as a method to break away from reality and to capture a distinct period in history that was far less complicated. Coleridge chose to incorporate words such as: "gossamers" in place of cob webs, "spectre-bark" instead of ghosts, and "corses" denoting corpses into his poem to enhance its literary mysticicm and timeless appeal (Coleridge, 435, 439).
Quotes Explained:
"It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three. 'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?" (I.1) "And a good south wind sprung up behind; The albatross did follow, And every day, for food or play, Came to the mariners' hollo! In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perched for vespers nine; Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white, Glimmered the white moon-shine." "God save thee, ancient mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus! – Why lookst thou so?" "With my crossbow I shot the albatross."" (I.18-20) "Ah! wel-a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the albatross About my neck was hung." (II.34) "One after one, by the star-dogged moon, Too quick for groan or sigh, Each turned his face with ghastly pang, And cursed me with his eye." (III.49) "O happy living things! No tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware. The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea." (IV.65-66) |
Coleridge opens with a description of the ancient mariner who is described with having a "long grey beard and glittering eye". The fact that his eyes are "glittering" reveals some sort of mysterious life and animation which is different from other old men. This glittering eye is symbolic of his charm which pulls his audience to him. This element of magic and mystery is also a factor of romantic writing. Also, the fact that the mariner has to keep his audience and himself outside of the festivities is symbolic of himself and the fact that he technically belongs to a different world, and the sin which he has committed is keeping him from being able to indulge in worldly joys. The albatross, which had proved to be helpful, was suddenly shot by the mariner. The mariner did not shoot the bird because it did them any wrong, he simply shot the bird because he could. Coleridge uses the albatross to represent nature. The albatross was innocent, helpful, and harmless. It was man's excessive hubris which caused him trouble. Likewise, Coleridge believed that nature is naturally good, and it is the flaws of man which cause turmoil. The albatross hanging around the mariner's neck was supposed to be symbolic of the mariner's pride, like a trophy. However, the audience also learns that the bird will also become a burden and a reminder of the mariner's sins as his friends begin to die off. The cost of the sin outweighs that of his pride. Although the mariner was the one who killed the albatross, his crew would also have to suffer the consequences. Coleridge shows how one man's actions can affect everyone else around him. Everyone dies on the ship but the ancient mariner. Ultimately, the mariner learns that living through the guilt that he caused the deaths of his fellow friends and ship mates is a lot worse than dying. After all the pain and trouble which the mariner inflicted on himself, he realizes that everything has its own beauty. Whether it is a human being, a bird, or a strangely slimy creature, it is beautiful because it has been blessed with life. Again, this realization corresponds to Coleridge's belief that man and nature are naturally good. |