The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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Notes & Analysis
,
Poetry
,
ST Coleridge
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 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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