The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
/The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Samuel Taylor Coleridge/
A Haunting Sea Voyage and the Burden of Consequence
Original Poem (English), line by line (selected excerpt due to length):
(Opening Lines)
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
“By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?
The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
May’st hear the merry din.”
(Excerpt from Part I)
He holds him with his skinny hand,
“There was a ship,” quoth he.
“Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!”
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.
He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years’ child:
The Mariner hath his will.
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
(Excerpt from Part II, after shooting the Albatross)
And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work ’em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!
(Excerpt from Part IV, realization and repentance)
O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.
(Excerpt from Part VII, concluding stanza)
Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” an old sailor compels a Wedding-Guest to hear his extraordinary tale of a sea voyage gone tragically awry. After the Mariner kills an albatross—a bird considered an omen of good luck—his shipmates become stranded in a hostile, windless sea. The crew blames the Mariner for their predicament and forces him to wear the dead albatross around his neck as a symbol of his guilt. Supernatural elements, including ghostly figures and spectral visions, intensify the sense of doom.
Central to the poem is the Mariner’s spiritual transformation. While surrounded by death, his moment of unconscious compassion for the sea snakes triggers a release from his curse. In blessing these “happy living things,” he recognizes the inherent beauty and sanctity of all creatures. This shift in perception allows the albatross to drop from his neck, symbolizing the beginning of his redemption. Although the Mariner survives, he must wander the earth, compelled to share his story with those who most need to hear its moral.
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” first published in the 1798 edition of Lyrical Ballads (co-authored with William Wordsworth), helped define English Romantic poetry. Its themes—humanity’s bond with nature, the spiritual repercussions of cruelty, and the redemptive force of love—resonate deeply. The ballad stanza form and archaic diction lend an eerie, timeless quality, capturing the dread and wonder of the Mariner’s ordeal. Ultimately, the poem warns that disregarding the sanctity of life carries profound consequences, but also offers hope through humility, empathy, and reverence for all living things. (Approx. 260 words)
Key points
1. Harm done to any living creature disrupts humanity’s harmony with the natural world.
2. Redemption involves acknowledging guilt and transforming one’s perspective.
3. Supernatural elements heighten the moral and spiritual dimensions of the Mariner’s tale.
4. The Mariner’s compulsion to retell his story shows the power of experience to inspire caution and empathy.
5. Coleridge’s rich imagery and ballad form establish an enduring, haunting narrative that shaped Romantic poetry.
