The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Summary


An Ancient Mariner, unnaturally old and skinny, with deeply-tanned skin and a "glittering eye", stops a Wedding Guest who is on his way to a wedding reception with two companions. He tries to resist the Ancient Mariner, who compels him to sit and listen to his woeful tale. The Ancient Mariner tells his tale, largely interrupted save for the sounds from the wedding reception and the Wedding Guest's fearsome interjections. One day when he was younger, the Ancient Mariner set sail with two hundred other sailors from his native land. The day was sunny and clear, and all were in good cheer until the ship reached the equator. Suddenly, a terrible storm hit and drove the ship southwards into a "rime" - a strange, icy patch of ocean. The towering, echoing "rime" was bewildering and impenetrable, and also desolate until an Albatross appeared out of the mist. No sooner than the sailors fed it did the ice break and they were able to steer through. As long as the Albatross flew alongside the ship and the sailors treated it kindly, a good wind carried them and a mist followed. One day, however, the Ancient Mariner shot and killed the Albatross on impulse.

Suddenly the wind and mist ceased, and the ship was stagnant on the ocean. The other sailors alternately blamed the Ancient Mariner for making the wind die and praised him for making the strange mist disappear. Then things began to go awry. The sun became blindingly hot, and there was no drinkable water amidst the salty ocean, which tossed with terrifying creatures. The sailors went dumb from their thirst and sunburned lips. They hung the Albatross around the Ancient Mariner's neck as a symbol of his sin. After a painful while, a ship appeared on the horizon, and the Ancient Mariner bit his arm and sucked the blood so he could cry out to the other sailors. The ship was strange: it sailed without wind, and when it crossed in front of the sun, its stark masts seemed to imprison the sun. When the ship neared, the Ancient Mariner could see that it was a ghost ship manned by Death, in the form of a man, and Life-in-Death, in the form of a beautiful, naked woman. They were gambling for the Ancient Mariner's soul. Life-in-Death won the Ancient Mariner's soul, and the other sailors were left to Death. The sky went black immediately as the ghost ship sped away. Suddenly all of the sailors cursed the Ancient Mariner with their eyes and dropped dead on the deck. Their souls zoomed out of their bodies, each taunting the Ancient Mariner with a sound like that of his crossbow. Their corpses miraculously refused to rot; they stared at him unrelentingly, cursing him with their eyes.

The Ancient Mariner drifted on the ocean in this company, unable to pray. One night he noticed some beautiful water-snakes frolicking at the ship's prow in the icy moonlight. Watching the creatures brought him unprecedented joy, and he blessed them without meaning to. When he was finally able to pray, the Albatross fell from his neck and sank into the sea. He could finally sleep, and dreamed of water. When he awoke, it was raining, and an awesome thunderstorm began. He drank his fill, and the ship began to sail in lieu of wind. Then the dead sailors suddenly arose and sailed the ship without speaking. They sang heavenly music, which the ship's sails continued when they had stopped. Once the ship reached the equator again, the ship jolted, causing the Ancient Mariner to fall unconscious. In his swoon, he heard two voices discussing his fate. They said he would continue to be punished for killing the Albatross, who was loved by a spirit. Then they disappeared. When the Ancient Mariner awoke, the dead sailors were grouped together, all cursing him with their eyes once again. Suddenly, however, they disappeared as well. The Ancient Mariner was not relieved, because he realized that he was doomed to be haunted by them forever.
The wind picked up, and the Ancient Mariner spotted his native country's shore. Then bright angels appeared standing over every corpse and waved silently to the shore, serving as beacons to guide the ship home. The Ancient Mariner was overjoyed to see a Pilot, his boy, and a Hermit rowing a small boat out to the ship. He planned to ask the Hermit to absolve him of his sin. Just as the rescuers reached the ship, it sank suddenly and created a vortex in the water. The rescuers were able to pull the Ancient Mariner from the water, but thought he was dead. When he abruptly came to and began to row the boat, the Pilot and Pilot's Boy lost their minds. The spooked Hermit asked the Ancient Mariner what kind of man he was. It was then that the Ancient Mariner learned of his curse; he would be destined to tell his tale to others from beginning to end when an agonizing, physical urge struck him. After he related his tale to the Hermit, he felt normal again.

The Ancient Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that he wanders from country to country, and has a special instinct that tells him to whom he must tell his story. After he tells it, he is temporarily relieved of his agony. The Ancient Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that better than any merriment is the company of others in prayer. He says that the best way to become close with God is to respect all of His creatures, because He loves them all. Then he vanishes. Instead of joining the wedding reception, the Wedding Guest walks home, stunned. We are told that he awakes the next day "sadder and...wiser" for having heard the Ancient Mariner's tale.

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner Short Summary

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a summary about three guys who are on their way to a wedding celebration when an old sailor (the Mariner) stops one of them at the door-steps (Who will be called the Wedding Guest). 
He uses his mesmerizing eyes to hold all the attention of Wedding Guest and starts telling him a story about the unfortunate and destructive journey that he took. The Guest wants to go to the celebration, but he doesn’t seem to pry himself away from this old mariner.
The Mariner begins his story.

They leave the port and ship sails down near Antarctica to keep themselves safe from the severe storm. But suddenly they get themselves caught in a deadly foggy course. An albatross shows up to steer them into the fog and provides them good winds, but the mariner decides to shoot it. 

Soon the sailor loses their wind, and it gets really hot. They run out of the water. Now at this point, everybody blames the Mariner. The ship seems hunted by a cruel spirit, and weird stuff starts appearing, they see the slimy creatures walking on the sea.

Mariner’s crew decides to hand the albatross body around his neck to remind him of his grave mistake that he made. Due to his mistake, everyone is dying due to thirst. Mariner happened to see another ship is sailing at some distance from his ship. 

He desires and tries to yell out loudly, but his mouth is too dry to yell. To moisten his lips, he sucked his own blood. He thinks that they are safe now. But sadly the ship is a ghost ship and piloted by two spirits.  Then starts the game of death. 

Who wants to save himself?  Who has to be the last member you want to meet on a journey?
Everyone dies on the mariner’s ship. The guest realizes, “Oh! You are a ghost”! But the Mariner replies him patiently, saying “well I am the only one who didn’t die that day.” After that, he continues his ballad and says he’s on the boat with all the dead bodies full of slimy spirits surrounded by an ocean.

Severe, these slimy things are nasty water snakes. Mariner unconsciously escapes his course by the blessings the hideous snakes and the dropping blood drop of albatross from his neck into the sea.

The Mariner falls into sleep, and when he wakes up, it’s raining. A storm strikes up in some distance, and he sees all his crew members floating on the water like zombies. Sailors don’t come back to life. It seems the supernatural spirits and angels fill their bodies and push the boat. 

The Mariner hears some voices, saying that how cruelly he killed the albatross and still he has more sufferings. These mysterious voices explain all the situation that how the ship is moving.

The Mariner says that he still has the same painful need to tell all the story. That is why he stopped that guest on this very occasion. In the end, Mariner says that he needs to learn how to express his love, how to say prayers, how to live people and many other things. Then he goes back home and wakes up the next day, just like the famous lines go “a sadder and wiser man.”

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