Valerie Wang Mr. Macdonald English 9 8 Feb 2017 Suspense of the Ancient Mariner 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. At the beginning of the passage, the wedding guest is trying yet again to escape from the Mariner because he is now afraid that the Mariner is not actually alive. Yet the Mariner’s “glittering eye” (228) entrances him to stay and listen, and he assures the guest that he did not die. The wedding guest proclaims, “I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand… I fear thee and thy glittering eye,” (224-228). The constant repetition of the word “fear” builds tension by essentially listing characteristics of the Mariner that are unsettling, such as his “skinny hand” and “glittering eye”. These terms, usually not associated with a healthy or sane person, creates suspense by inciting the reader to wonder whether or not the Mariner is …show more content…
He describes how he was “Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide, wide sea!” (232-233). He persistently uses the word “alone” to explain his emotion during the situation, highlighting the fact that there was absolutely no one to guide him, and it was most likely that he would die alone in the sea. By enforcing the fact that the Mariner was so “alone”, Coleridge builds suspense by leading the reader to ponder how the Mariner survived to tell his story to the wedding guest. Being “alone” is an extremely terrifying thought, especially if one were stranded in the “wide, wide sea”, so connecting this common association of the word alone to the Mariner’s fear, Coleridge alerts the reader to how hopeless his situation
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
The reader might not understand how to interpret the stanza; they could interpret however they wanted to. Coleridge placed the glosses in so that the reader would understand the Mariner woke up and realized that he had done his penance. These...
“The Seafarer” begins with a man’s story of the hardships he faced at sea. He is on a voyage to discover new lands and riches, yet he is not happy. Despite the great journey the man is undertaking, he feels in exile from his people. He has been lonely for a long period of time now and has had no success. As he is pondering this topic, he thinks of how he only hears the sounds of birds instead of the laughter of people in the mead hall. He thinks of how he is cold instead of warm and sharing drink with his friends; he is lonely and his kinsmen can offer him no comfort, so his soul is left drowning in desolation.
Roughly halfway into the poem, his religious outlook is revealed as he expresses how “the joys of the Lord are hotter for me than this dead life, loaned on land” (64b-65). Even though the hardships of a seafarer appeals to the speaker, he thinks of himself as a “dead” man who would rather enjoy “the joys of the Lord” (64b-65). The speaker addresses the unexpectedness of death for those “who dreads not the Lord” and the utter instability of the earth (106). “The Seafarer” presents the idea that the Lord is the only stable thing in the universe and the cure to the inner conflicts of the speaker. The speaker’s continued explanation of the short life of earthly things emphasizes this idea. The sea travel before ultimately and undoubtedly becomes a metaphor of the spiritual journey of a devoted Christian.
Initially, the Seafarer is reminiscent of a man who is full of despair. His words are full of sorrow and desolation. He tells of his suffrage and pain when he elucidates: “My feet were cast/ In icy bounds… Hardship groaned/ Around my heart” (Raffel 17). The narrator conjures images of negative connotation with cold, anxiety, depression, stormy seas, and gloomy weather. These are metaphors for the sort of imprisonment that must be felt by the speaker. The speaker is one of the exiled. This isolation causes him to lose his faith; he tries to find meaning to his existence. It can be inferred that the speaker no longer feels a connection with the human race. He feels lost. The sort of anguish that the speaker must be experiencing is expressed in the first few lines. The speaker elucidates that these feelings of negativity not only exist in his mind, but also affect his physical being. The speaker’s...
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/
The main theme of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem is to learn from your mistakes. After telling his tale to the Wedding Guest, the Ancient Mariner realized that the murder of the Albatross was a mistake and lived a life of penance. The act of murder was an impulsive act because the Mariner felt threatened by the Albatross their actions. The deaths of both birds brought about memories from both the Ancient Mariner and Hagar which they shared with other people, the Wedding Guest and Murray F. Lees. These memories help them to realize the mistakes they made. Through their own personal recollections, the Ancient Mariner and Hagar both achieved a better understanding of their lives and in turn were able to die with a sense of contentment and relief.
He starts the story immediately with a lot of detail creating the setting of where the mariner is going and to whom the mariner is going to tell his tale. He chooses three men on their way to a wedding and one in particular we know as the “wedding guest.” When we think of a wedding we think of a happy event where two people are united under the grace of god. The mariner stops him from going in this event though and tells him the story, at the end of which he tells him that he doesn't need anything but god to be happy. The detail and emphasis of the wedding symbolizes temporary happiness on earth. The mariner explains that loving god and having him in your life is “Oh sweeter than the marriage feast, 'Tis sweeter far to me” (Coleridge, lines 86-87). Here the mariner is saying that the temporary happiness on earth that one may get from a marriage celebration is nice but it is nowhere near as good as the love of god you get from making a religious transformation. Coleridge explains all of the sing and drinking and happiness going on in the wedding as the mariner is telling the story but in the end the mariner tells the guest that none of that is as good as the love of god. And we can see that wedding guest actually learns something from the story because he decides to not go into the wedding but rather “and now the wedding-guest. Turned from the bridegroom's door. He went ...
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the author uses the story of a sailor and his adventures to reveal aspects of life. This tale follows the Mariner and his crew as they travel between the equator and the south pole, and then back to England. The author's use of symbolism lends the work to adults as a complex web of representation, rather than a children's book about a sailor.First, in the poem, the ship symbolizes the body of man. The ship experiences trials and tribulations just as a real person does. Its carrying the Mariner (symbolizing the individual soul) and crew shows that Coleridge saw the body as a mere vessel of the soul. This symbol of a boat is an especially powerful one, because one steers a ship to an extent, yet its fate lies in the hands of the winds and currents.Secondly, the albatross symbolizes Christ. Just as the Mariner senselessly slays the bird, man crucifies Christ whose perfection is unchallenged. Even though Christ represents mankind's one chance at achieving Heaven, man continues to persecute Him. The albatross symbolizes the sailors' one chance at deliverance from icy death and the Mariner shoots him.Thirdly, the South Pole symbolizes Hell. No visible wind blows the unfortunate crew toward the South Pole. Rather, an unseen force pulls them there. Such is the case when the world's temptations lure one to Hell. Just as the sailors approach far to close to this icy purgatory, their Redeemer, the albatross, or at least his spirit, leads them safely back in the right direction.Fourthly, in the poem England symbolizes Heaven. When the Mariner first sees his country, a great sense of hope and joy overcome him. At the point when the Mariner is about to enter Heaven, the body, symbolized by the ship, must die.
The resolution of the Mariners decision caused him and his shipmates to fall into a curse, which led the Mariner into an eternal penance. The Mariners penances was to retell the story of what a Mariner's choice against nature he made and the events that he went through at sea. After the death of the Albatross, the Mariner felt as if he was pull down by a curse. The vengeance of the curse occurs as a result of his actions, leading towards the Mariner's shipmates souls being taken away. Following the death of the Mariner's soul, the Mariner began to experienced redemptions against the decisions he
The mariner reconciles his sins when he realizes what nature really is and what it means to him. All around his ship, he witnesses, "slimy things did crawl with legs upon the slimy sea" and he questions "the curse in the Dead man's eyes". This shows his contempt for the creatures that Nature provides for all people. The mariner begins to find his salvation when he begins to look on the 'slimy things' as creatures of strange beauty. When "the mariner begins to find his salvation when he begins to look on the 'slimy things' as creatures of strange beauty" he understands the Albatross is a symbol of nature and he realizes what he had done wrong. The mariner is forgiven after sufficient penance. The mariner's experience represents a renewal of the impulse of love towards other living things. Once he reconciles his punishment is lifted. The bird, which is hung around his neck as a punishment, falls into the water and makes the change from punishment to penance.
...ous allegory represents Christian ideals such as sin, forgiveness, and prayer. In addition, Coleridge’s use of language and form contribute to the message conveyed in the text. The form fluctuates throughout the text by use of different rhyme schemes, loose meter, and stanzas in length varying four to nine lines. The variety of form could be representative the array of interpretations of this text. Coleridge conveys profound religious meaning by using symbolic language with interpretive representations. Although his use of elevated language possibly narrowed the audience, that could have been his intentions due to the complexities of this philosophical poem. In the end, Coleridge’s depiction of the Mariner’s journey ultimately conveys the Christian ideal, which is to love and appreciate all creatures created by God, whether Albatross or snake.
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.
However, in the two works by Coleridge, the imagination takes on different roles in each world. In the Ancient Mariner, the imagination is the substance that holds all life together, much like how the millio...
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.