Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
"rime of the ancient mariner
The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Literary essays on rime of the ancient mariner
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Rime and the Ancient Mariner
1).The 21st century has made a miraculous turn towards the supernatural outlook, such as, the books we read, the movies we see, and even television shows. Readings on the supernatural can date back hundreds of years, for example, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The supernatural elements in this poem are the appearance of the Albatross, the behavior of the dead, and the appearance of the spirits.
2).In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" Colridge wrote, "At length did cross an Albatross/Through the fog it came" (line63-64). The Albatross was considered a great sea bird that brought good luck to the ship that the Mariner and his crew road in. But low and behold, the ancient Mariner killed the Albatross the bird of good omen. The shipmates were not pleased at what the Mariner had done because this meant bad luck from here on after.
3).Another example of the supernatural was the spectre-woman and her death mate. The Mariner said,
Is that a death? And are there two?
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy…"(line 88-92)
What the Mariner saw was a ghost a supernatural entity because there was no woman on crew and all the shipmates were dead. More over, the Mariner heard, "The dead men gave a grown/They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose" (lines 331-332).
4).Lastly, the two spirits that came to him and spared his life to return southward were supernatural. The ancient Mariner said, "I heard, and in my soul discerned/ Two voices in the air" (lines 97-98). The Mariner described two spirits as mist and snow having a discussion about the ancient Mariner and what he had done to the Albatross.
5).So as one can see "The Rime and the Ancient Mariner written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge has supernatural elements in this poem. I feel that the supernatural catches the reader or audience's attention because it is out of the ordinary.
In the 1798 and the 1817 text of the, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, There are certain changes. Changes that effect the poem and the way that the reader sees the poem. Some of these changes include reading devices called glosses. There are many reasons for the glosses to be put into the poem. One of the reasons is to help the reader interpret lines in the poem that can be confusing. These glosses are a brief interpretation of the stanza, so that the reader will understand it the way that Coleridge intended them to. An example of this is:
In addition, the albatross of Rime of the Ancient Mariner and the raven from The Raven display similar actions in the poems. The albatross flies by the ship in the water and immediately brings good weather to the sailors, “And a good wind sprung up behind; the albatross did follow, and every day, for food or play, came to the mariner’s hollo!” (Lines 71-74) They then praise it, but once it is killed, horrible storms start, angering the mariners. The raven comes into play when the nar...
In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Coleridge, The Ancient Mariner is telling his story to a bypassing guest at the wedding, and he is describing the experience of being alone at sea surrounded by only water and his dead crewmates. Coleridge creates dramatic suspense and mystery in this passage through the uses of repetition, simile and imagery.
The poem The Seafarer which belongs to the sea elegies found in the Exter Book and, can be read as an allegorial voyage poem, such allegories of journeys were richly explored in later religious poems. [L. Sikorska: 2005, p. 25] This work is divided into two parts. In the first one we can notice the story of seafarer who describes hardships of life on the sea, whereas in the second one we can find some christian elements. He approves of honest living and higher values as friendship and love.
To begin with, the killing of the albatross signified the love that Christ had among his people, and the execution he was forced upon in order for the hope of reassurance of his people. “Is it he? quoth one, “Is this the man? By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross. The spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow.” (Lines 398-405). Samuel Coleridge dignifies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with the execution of the albatross. Religious symbolism reflects the apocalypse meaning throughout the killing of the albatross.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Part 1 a old man stops one man out of three that were walking down the street to go to a wedding the man is a relation of the married the man tries to get away but the old man grabs the man with his skinny hand the man is held there by the glitter of the old man's eye the man is listening intently "Like a three years' child" the old man has the man's attention the wedding guest sat down on a stone the mariner went on with his story the boat was anchored by a kirk KIRK- church EFTSOONS - unhand me ship was sailing south because sun came up on the left side of the boat they sailed closer to the equator every day because the sun came overhead MINSTRIL - musicians the bride has started to walk down the isle and the music is playing the old man carries on there was a storm at the equator the storm drove them to the south pole the storm was very strong they went through mist and then it started to snow it became very cold they went by very large chunks of ice floating through the water (icebergs) there was nothing but ice and snow and there was no animals, just ice an albatross flew over after a few days the men were happy to see it because they needed hope the men fed it the ice broke in front of the boat and then they sailed through the ice to safety a good south wind helped them sail north the bird followed them KEN - know something NE'ER - never VESPERS -days the bird stayed with them for nine days the ancient mariner shot the albatross with his cross bow HOLLOW - called albatross PART II burst of sea - ship wake there was no more bird following the boat (the felt alone again) they ran out of food the people on the boat cursed at the mariner for killing their omen of good luck the wind had stopped Gods own head - sun averred - swear, agree to they thought that the bird had brought the fog because the fog had cleared after the bird died the breeze stopped and the boat stopped the sky was clear and it was very hot they were at the equator because the sun at noon was above the mast they stayed there for a few days without wind it was like they were a painting "Water, water, everywhere," they could not see anything
This action against nature is rather extreme, for he takes this thought of death lightly. The Albatross, as a representative of nature, means nothing to the Mariner. These thoughts are quickly changed, though, as Nature begins to start the punishment for his crimes commence when there is, "Water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink." He is punished harshly for killing the symbol of nature that everyone reveres. He is beaten down by the sun with its rays and is taunted by the endless sight of water that he cannot drink.
Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner are the two works that will be discussed in this essay. This essay will explore the different cultural background of both texts along with the authors. Both texts were written in different time periods, the Victorian Period (1837-1901), and the Romantic period (1800-1850). Both periods had their different features and requirements, which will be discuss and tied into the works of both authors throughout the rest of this essay. Throughout the Romantic and Victorian period, symbolism and the supernatural were two features that were common; which both appeared in Rossetti’s and Coleridge’s work. Supernatural can be a distinction to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature. The supernatural and symbolism that appeared in works of Rossetti’s and Coleridge’s tend to show various similarities in the culture, and period surrounding each work. A comparison between these two authors will give a crucial explanation.
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” begins with three men walking to attend a wedding. One of the wedding guests’ hand gets grabbed by and old man, the mariner. After the mariner lets go, the wedding guest “listens like a three years child” to the story the mariner is about to tell. The story begins with the mariner and he crew out at sea. The mariner explains it suddenly got dark and they unexpectedly encountered a giant sea bird, called the Albatross. The Albatross was a symbol of good luck, but the mariner felt the need to kill it. The mariner did just that. Once the Albatross was slain the weather got clearer and the crew congratulated him for his...
He has to feel a pain in his chest that becomes unbearable until he sees a certain soul that is the right one to tell. No matter what. In the long poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge has three lessons about human life: supernatural, pride, and suffering. In “Rime” by Sam Coleridge, the mariner goes through many supernatural events that scare him into submission. Coleridge does a great job of describing the scenery around the boat that the mariner resides in.
Mary Shelley’s gothic book Frankenstein shows allusions and shares comparisons with Rime Of The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge. Some of these can be found in the first 16 pages of the novel, in Robert Walton’s letters. Whilst stuck in the ice on page nine, Robert sees a figure on a sled, and writes, “a being which had the shape of a man, but apparently of gigantic stature, sat in the sledge and guided the dogs...We were, as we believed, many hundred miles from any land” (Shelley 9). The man in the sledge comes as an omen to Robert and his crew. Far from civilization, the person that is seen by them is a sign of the future. Similarly, in Rime of The Ancient Mariner, an omen presents itself to them, “At length did cross an Albatross: Through
As the ancient Mariner described his adventures at sea to the Wedding-Guest, the Guest became saddened because he identified his own selfish ways with those of the Mariner. The mariner told the Guest that he and his ship-mates were lucky because at the beginning of their voyage they had good weather. The mariner only saw what was on the surface -- he did not see the good weather as evidence that Someone was guiding them. Also, when he shot the Albatross, the Mariner did not have any reason for doing so. The Albatross did nothing wrong, yet the Mariner thought nothing of it and without thinking of the significance of the act, he killed the bird. At this, the Guest was reminded of how self-absorbed he, too, was, and the sinful nature of man. At the beginning of the poem he was very much intent on arriving at the wedding on time. He did not care at all about what it was that the Mariner had to tell him; he did not want to be detained even if the Mariner was in trouble. Instead, he spoke rudely to the mariner, calling him a "gray-beard loon", and tried to go on his own way.
Overall “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is poem that seems like a simple story told by a sailor about his woes at sea. But Coleridge uses many details to make symbols throughout the story for the reader to interpret and see the connections between it and religion. Whether it be through the Christ like albatross, which most would just see as a simple bird, or the woman on the boat showing how the lifestyle might be fun but ultimate leads to nothing we see that these small details create a bigger story than what is just on the cover.
The catalyst for the emergence of Christian symbolism occurs when the mariner commits a sin by murdering one of God’s creatures. By killing the albatross, he inevitably brings about a series of trials amongst himself and those aboard the ship. Though the significance of this sin is first unseen by the mariner, supernatural forces quickly condemn his actions as a severe crime against nature. With no real reason, the mariner kills the albatross and soon realizes the magnitude of his actions. Viewed beyond simply a good luck charm, “At length did cross an Albatross, Through the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God’s name” (ll. 63-6). The idea of the Albatross representing Jesus Christ is a direct parallel in the Christian religion. The death of the Albatross is reminiscent of the death of Jesus in that both died as a result of another’s sin and betrayal of God’s word. Similar accounts of betrayal are portrayed ...
According to Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, an allegory is described as a fictional literary narrative or artistic expression that conveys a symbolic meaning parallel to but distinct from, and more important than, the literal meaning. This is true in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is an allegory that symbolizes the inherent struggle of humans facing the ideas of sin and redemption. In writing this poem, Coleridge spent four months of sustained writing upon his purpose of supposing that supernatural situations are real. This purpose is seen clearly in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", which demonstrates salvation, and the power of sympathetic imagination. The story of the ancient mariner takes place on a sea voyage around the horn of Africa and through the Pacific Ocean to England, which Coleridge uses to symbolize the pass into the spirit world of guilt, retribution, and rebirth.