The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a narrative poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that explores deep themes of sin, punishment, and redemption through the tale of an old sailor's harrowing sea voyage. The poem begins with the ancient Mariner interrupting a wedding guest to recount his story, setting a tone of foreboding and moral reflection. The Mariner’s journey takes him from his home port to the desolate polar regions, where he kills an albatross, traditionally seen as a good omen, leading to catastrophic consequences for his crew.
As the ship finds itself becalmed and cursed, the crew members perish one by one, while the Mariner is condemned to live with the burden of his guilt. The turning point occurs when he experiences a moment of reverence for the beauty of nature, allowing him to seek forgiveness and ultimately find salvation. The poem culminates with the Mariner returning home, transformed by his experiences and now compelled to share his story as a cautionary tale about the interconnectedness of life and the importance of respecting all living things. This rich narrative is not only a tale of adventure but also serves as a profound meditation on the moral responsibilities we hold towards the natural world.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
First published: 1798
Type of work: Poetry
Type of plot: Allegory
Time of plot: Late medieval period
Locale: High seas
Principal Characters
The Ancient Mariner ,A Hermit ,A Wedding Guest ,
The Poem
Three young gallants on their way to a wedding are stopped by an old gray-headed sailor who detains one of them. The ancient Mariner holds with his gaze a young man whose next of kin is being married in the church nearby and forces him to listen, against his will, to the old seaman’s tale.
The ancient Mariner's ship leaves its home port and sails southward toward the equator. In a storm the vessel is blown to polar regions of snow and ice. When an albatross flies out of the frozen silence, the crew hails it as a good omen. The sailors make a pet of the albatross and regard it as a fellow creature. One day the ancient Mariner kills the bird with his crossbow. The superstitious sailors believe bad luck will follow.
Fair winds blow the ship northward until it reaches the equator, where it is suddenly becalmed and lies for days without moving. The thirsty seamen blame the ancient Mariner and hang the dead albatross about his neck as a sign of his guilt.
In the distance a ship appears, a skeleton ship that moves on the still sea where no wind blows. On its deck Death and Life-in-Death are casting dice for the crew and for the ancient Mariner. As a result of the cast, Death wins the two hundred crew members, who drop dead one by one. As the soul of each dead sailor rushes by, the ancient Mariner is reminded of the sound of the rushing bolt of his crossbow when he shot the albatross. Life-in-Death wins the ancient Mariner, who lives on to expiate his sins. Furthermore, the curse lives on in the eyes of the men who died accusing him. One night the ancient Mariner, observing the beauty of the water snakes around the ship, blesses these creatures in his heart. The spell is broken. The albatross falls from his neck into the sea.
At last the ancient Mariner is able to sleep. Rain falls to quench his thirst. The warped vessel begins to move, and the bodies of the dead crew rise to resume their regular duties as the ship sails quietly on, moved by a spirit toward the South Pole. The ancient Mariner falls into a trance. He awakens to behold his own country, the very port from which he set sail. Then the angelic spirits leave the dead bodies of the crew and appear in their own forms of light. Meanwhile, the pilot on the beach sees the lights, and he rows out with his son and a holy Hermit to bring the ship in to harbor. Suddenly the ship sinks, but the pilot pulls the ancient Mariner into his boat. Once ashore, the old man asks the Hermit to hear his confession and to give him penance.
The ancient Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that at times since that moment, the agony of the seaman’s guilt returns and he has to tell the story of his voyage to one who must be taught love and reverence for all things God made and loved. The merry din of the wedding ceases, and the Wedding Guest returns home, a sadder and a wiser man.
Bibliography
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Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Annotated Ancient Mariner. Ed. Martin Gardner. Illus. by Gustave Doré. Cleveland: World, 1967. Print.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Complete, Authoritative Texts of the 1798 and 1817 Versions with Biographical and Historical Contexts, Critical History, and Essays from Contemporary Critical Perspectives. Ed. Paul H. Fry. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999. Print.
House, Humphry. Coleridge: The Clark Lectures, 1951-52. London: Hart-Davis, 1953. Print.
Kipperman, Mark. "Driven by Demons: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Critical Insights: Good and Evil. Ed. Margaret Sönser Breen. Ipswich: Salem, 2012. 129–143. Print.
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Stevenson, Warren. A Study of Coleridge’s Three Great Poems—Christabel, “Kubla Khan,” and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Lewiston: Edwin Mellen, 2001. Print.
Stokes, Christopher. "'My Soul in Agony': Irrationality and Christianity in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Studies in Romanticism 50.1 (2011): 3–28. Print.
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