Glorification Of Nature In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

The Romantic Period in literature is known for its glorification of the beauty in nature and how one can find inspiration through the magnificent natural world. Poets like John Keats, in poems such as “To Autumn”, upheld this obvious adoration to the apparent beauty of the countryside by writing about fruit ready to be picked, or a colorful tree. However, while Samuel Taylor Coleridge shared Keats’ love for nature and had a similar approach to its description in some of his poems, he used a different method of description of nature in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” as Coleridge touched upon the “slimy things”(238) and the “rotting sea” (240). He showcased further inspiration through the unpleasant in “Kubla Khan” as he took nature to its

This is realized when the Mariner states, “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!” (59-62). This presents nature in dark scene-it shows its danger, but also its power. This technique is furthered in the verse that reads, “Instead of the cross, the Albatross/ About my neck was hung,”(141-142). This is especially bleak as one imagines a dead, bleeding bird draped over someone’s neck. However, despite the gloominess, the words offer a dramatic version of nature that teaches readers a lesson about what could happen if innocence is tampered with. The poem does end on a lighter note, however, as the Mariner learns to appreciate nature. Once he does, he is set free as “The Albatross fell off, and sank/ Like lead into the sea”(291-292). In summation, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” gives readers a feel for the goodness in nature, but teaches a lesson through the threatening characteristics of it; the Sublime is still uncovered in both the dark and light in this poem. Coleridge also used the technique of highlighting the unpleasant in “Kubla Khan”, a poem that resulted from a drug induced state that Coleridge

The city’s presence, while not a large one, is established in Wordsworth’s poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”. This work is basically Wordsworth describing the Wye valley and the ruins of Tintern Abbey as he revisits it after “five long winters!”(2). This place gave him a sense of deep seclusion and a connection with nature that took him to such a level of Sublime, he was able to store the memory so he would be inspired in the city. In sum, the poem is meant to teach readers how to connect to nature, like Wordsworth did, so everyone can be more