Ancient Mariner

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Wordsworth and Coleridge, within ‘I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud’ and ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ respectively, explore similar themes through the invocation of nature. This is most apparent in the focus on the natural by Wordsworth, contrasted with the supernatural within ‘Mariner’. Coleridge’s use of the spiritual indicates that religion is the source of natural power, whereas Wordsworth argues that nature is unaided. However, Wordsworth and Coleridge also promote a similar necessity of a relationship with the natural world. Overall, Wordsworth's preference for nature as a substitute for religion contrasts with Coleridge's belief that God bridges the relationship between humanity and nature. Comparably, Wordsworth and Coleridge approach …show more content…

Wordsworth and Coleridge emphasise similar aspects of Burke’s sublime in their use of natural imagery. Coleridge focuses on the element of infinity through his depiction of the ocean (Twitchell 90). This can be equated to the use of the daffodils by Wordsworth (Brennan 141), which presents nature as the source of the sublime effect. This does not appear to be comparable with the supernatural imagery present within ‘Mariner’, as Coleridge relies on the fantastic rather than the real. As a result, it is argued that Wordsworth portrays an “authentic moment in nature”, whereas Coleridge’s sublime is “radically fictive” (Sandner 59). Certainly, ‘Lonely’, unlike ‘Mariner’, relies entirely on the natural world to produce sublime effect. However, Coleridge uses the link between the natural and the supernatural in order to reveal the spiritual to the speaker (Fulford 819). This is similar to the ambiguity of nature in ‘Lonely’. The natural world is simultaneously real and fantastic through metaphoric likening to “never-ending … stars”. (Wordsworth 7-9) Wordsworth often used natural imagery to portray the physical world, along with the “immanent and transcendent” beyond it (Sandner 59). This stresses that Wordsworth and Coleridge held similar views on the ability of nature to reveal the sublime. While these authors consider similar aspects of the sublime, different techniques are used to do …show more content…

As discussed, both authors regard nature as a source of the sublime. This is complimented by their shared interest in the effect of imagination. In ‘Lonely’, Wordsworth juxtaposes the “sad and solitary poet” with the “joyful” natural world (Pope 139). This is coupled with the use of a structure that separates the “immediate experience” with the “subsequent memory” of it (Pope 139). This hints at the importance placed upon internalised experience by Wordsworth. The “true value” of the daffodils, which “metonymically [represent] nature”, is not evident until the speaker engages in imaginative reflection (Bennett 209). Wordsworth’s organisation of the text highlights how imagination can reveal the sublime in nature. It could be argued that Coleridge and Wordsworth share this position. This is supported by their joint work, ‘Lyrical Ballads’, in which “both the fantastic and the natural” are the “revelation of the … sublime” (Sandner 60). ‘Mariner’, which first appeared in this collection, uses imagination as part of the eponymous character’s development. The unconscious blessing of the water snakes in Part IV “symbolises the importance of imagination” (Pedrini & Pedrini 77). Through this act, a “sense of communion with Nature” is provided to the sailor, and the albatross, symbolic of guilt, falls from his neck (Pedrini & Pedrini 77). This intuitive

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