The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

An Ancient Mariner stops one (of three) on his way to a wedding.



The wedding guest is mesmerized by the Mariner’s passion and begins listening to the story.

The Mariner’s Tale:Their ship is driven

south, by a storm, to a place of “mist and snow.”


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“The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound!”


Surrounded by ice.



An albatross appears.



The albatross leads them out of the fog.



The Mariner shoots the albatross. At first the crew condemns him, but when a favorable breeze appears, they justify his action. This implicates them in his crime.



Later, the wind stops and the ship is stranded for days, “As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean.”

“Water, water, every where, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink.”

The crew blames the Mariner for no wind and hangs the albatross around his neck as punishment.


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A ghost ship approaches with a Specter-Woman and her Death-Mate as crew.



“Death” and “Life in Death” roll dice for the lives of the ship’s crew.

“Life in Death” wins.



“Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, and cursed me with his eye”

“With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, they dropped down one by one.”

“The souls did from their bodies fly, - They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed me by, Like the whizz of my cross-bow!”


“Alone, alone, all, all alone, alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on my soul in agony.”

“Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, and yet I could not die.”


“Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes”

“O happy living things! No tongue their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, and I blessed them unaware”



The curse is lifted and the albatross falls from his neck and sinks “like lead into the sea.”


The dead men awaken and the Mariner directs his ghostly crew North.


As the Mariner returns to his home port, the spirits of his crew leave their bodies.

He receives forgiveness (shrieve) from a hermit.



The Mariner’s ship sinks.



The story concluded, the wedding guest leaves “a sadder and a wiser man.”

The Mariner must tell his tale to warn others (redemption).



Geschke/British Literature Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Rime of theAncient Mariner

BySamuel Taylor Coleridge

1772-1834

Hero’s Journey• According to Joseph Campbell, the

"Hero's Journey" tells the story of the hero in order to convey what it means to live an "authentic life." What does the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" tell us about what we should do to live an "authentic life"?


Lyrical Ballads

• Published in 1798 with William Wordsworth

• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner opens the Lyrical Ballads


Ancient Mariner• “long gray beard and glittering

eye”• It is the eye that holds the attention

of the Wedding Guest• Suggests the supernatural


Ancient Mariner• Major Change

• Initially view nature from a negative perspective

• “slimy”• Needlessly kills the albatross

• Once he begins to appreciate nature, the curse is broken and he is able to pray.


Ancient Mariner• Penance

• Must retell his story• Initiated by some sort of burning

from within• Only retelling the story alleviates

the pain

Ancient Mariner• Penance

• Travels from land to land• Has strange powers of speech− Has the ability to speak multiple

languages– Suggests divine intervention

• Recognizes who must hear his story• Suggests divine intervention

Wedding Guest• Cannot escape the eye of the

Mariner• Fearful of the Mariner

• Believes that he is a ghost• Why is the Wedding Guest

chosen by the Mariner?• Possesses a similar flaw

• Lack of harmony with nature


Hermit• Religious man/priest

• “Kneels” three times a day• In tune with nature

• His cushion is a moss covered stump

• Therefore, he is painted in a positive light by Coleridge


Symbols• Albatross

• Symbol of nature• Dies at the hands of the Mariner• Loves the Mariner− Demonstrates nature’s desire to

harmonize with humanity


Themes• Religion

• Divine Intervention• No waves or wind in the ocean• Allows the boat to travel at

incredible speeds• With the condition of the boat, it

should not realistically be able to sail

• The burning inside the Mariner


Themes• Religion

• Forgiveness and Penance• Needs the Hermit to forgive him• In order to be forgiven, the

Mariner must perform his penance


Themes• Creating a Harmony Between

Humanity and Nature• Major theme of the Romantic Age• Once the Mariner embraces nature,

the curse begins to evaporate

Themes• Creating a Harmony Between

Humanity and Nature• The Mariner’s mission is to warn

people who display the characteristic that at one time dominated his life• Find people who are not in sync

with nature• Tell them his story• Change their ways− Harmonize humanity with

nature

Parts I-IV• Encounters a wedding guest• Transfixed by “glittering eye”• Begins to tell story… sunny/happy

seas, then engrossed by ice• Albatross appears- wind picks up and

ship breaks free• Sailor shoots bird (symbol of

freedom)


Parts I-IV• Crew angry, but then fog lifts..• Wears Albatross corpse like a cross around neck• Ship stranded. Creatures emerge from the sea, crew

grows parched• Sees a ship, but it is only a ghostly skeletal hull with

Death and Life-in-Death• Stars emerge- sailors die one by one• 7 days, 7 nights the mariner was trapped with the

ghosts. Snakes swam in the sea… finally able to pray, blesses the snakes & the albatross falls from his neck.

Parts V-VII• Now can sleep, but rain breaks through and drenches him.

Tormented by bodies/spirits• Perform tasks of old crew and ship moves• Spirits begin to sing, leave the bodies• Ship stops, begins to move backward (tug of war)• Ships lurches forward, mariner falls. Hears two voices: one

asking if he is man who killed the albatross, the other claiming he has served his penance

• Moon overpowers the sea and the ship moves forward• Headed towards home… once close to shore he sees the Pilot,

the Pilot’s son, and the holy Hermit were rowing out toward him. • Hoped that the Hermit could shrive (absolve) him of his sin,

washing the blood of the Albatross off his soul.• The Hermit, a holy man who lived in the woods and loved to talk

to mariners from strange lands, had encouraged the Pilot and his son not to be afraid and to row out to the ship.

Parts V-VII• But as they reached the Mariner’s ship, it sank in a

sudden whirlpool, leaving the Mariner afloat and the Pilot’s rowboat spinning in the wake.

• The Mariner was loaded aboard the Pilot’s ship, and the Pilot’s boy, mad with terror, laughed hysterically and declared that the devil knows how to row.

• On land, the Mariner begged the Hermit to shrive him, and the Hermit bade the Mariner tell his tale. Once it was told, the Mariner was free from the agony of his guilt.

• However, the guilt returned over time and persisted until the Mariner traveled to a new place and told his tale again.


Parts V-VII• The moment he comes upon the man to whom he is

destined to tell his tale, he knows it, and he has no choice but to relate the story then and there to his appointed audience; the Wedding-Guest is one such person.

• The church doors burst open, and the wedding party streams outside. The Mariner declares to the Wedding-Guest that he who loves all God’s creatures leads a happier, better life; he then takes his leave.

• The Wedding-Guest walks away from the party, stunned, and awakes the next morning “a sadder and a wiser man.”

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

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