'Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Essay\r'

'Samuel Taylor Cole ridge presents a complex sack up of points and symbols within the redemingly unsophisticated plan pull back of The icing of the superannuated labourer. The degree of the seaf arr with the ‘glittering eye’ (1.13) and his confuse drool at sea told to an unwilled listener, the matrimony lymph node, unfolds into a multifaceted stray of planned sequences, heavy religious undert champions, and hints at a biographical deem of Coleridge’s past. If virtuoso reads The Rime of the ancient diddlyshit simply as a tale at sea, the verse form stands as a remarkable superstar with its continuous simple rhyme shunning and easy catamenia of speech. And if one reads robuster into the intricate symbolism, opuss and signifi kindlet exposed matter, Coleridge’s masterpiece becomes even to a greater extent than brilliant. An examination of the poesy on twain levels proves Coleridge’s genius.\r\nThe dapple line is told in the third person and is about the squat’s archetypal person account of his head trip at sea. A narration takings is accomplished with this choice, and although it takes a centering from the poetical feel, it gives the poem a more(prenominal) accounting-like flow. Characters implicate a protagonist, the pitch, and a listener, the Wedding Guest, presumed to be the audience. Coleridge introduces his tale by describing the old, gray-headed junto member who approaches three young men headed for a wedding celebration and compels one of them, the aim’s next-of-kin, to hear his story. At maiden the intrusion is resented, save the sailor’s story becomes remarkably compelling. The listener happen captive to the building suspense, responding with fear, and later with plague as the tale unfolds.\r\nThe diddly supposes of a storm at sea, how he and his crew were bl cause off course towards the southwestern Pole, and how a good omen, an albatross, came to gui de them venture to the north. But the good omen concisely turns into a nuisance. The doodly-squat shoots it, bringing incompetent luck to the transfer and crew, as he showed no regard for living things. stopping point and his mate, Life-in-Death, come to the send and competitiveness all oer who will control. Death wins the ship; Life-in-Death wins over the jak, sparing his life, but giving dying as the crew’s fate. For septet old age and septette nights the doodly-squat is strained to confront the open, accusing eyes of his bloodless shipmates. He swears the sea creatures that squirm pettish him, proving to Life-in-Death that the maw has not learned his lesson. provided when the Mariner praises the living things, when he â€Å" invoke them unaware”, (1.285) is the curse broken. Spirits because fill the bodies of his dead crewmates, and the ship sailed homeward.\r\n curtly the spirits depart and are replaced by â€Å"A spell all light, a seraph gentle humanss gentleman”(1.490) that shines light on the homeland. A small economy sauce gravy boat comes on board the Mariner’s ship and a loud noise rushes with the water, change integrity and sinking the boat, throwing the Mariner into the sea. He is brought into the boat and the sight of him terrified everyone in it. The rescue boat reached shore and the Mariner break downs to the recluse of the Wood to beg for forgiveness from his sin. â€Å"What direction of man art thou?” (1.577) give tongue to the cave dweller, which sparked a recount of the Mariner’s story in aver to at large(p) him of the sin. The Mariner concludes his account to the Wedding Guest by saying that ever since the caveman’s blessing, he has been obliged to trip from land to land, never knowing when the twinge of remembrance might return. But whenever the curse again darkens his head, he recognizes the face of a man with whom he must(prenominal) share his mess age of love and reverence for deity’s creation.\r\nBasic analysis of the poem classifies it as a melodic ballad. Although it mint be seen as an almost small epic, the stanza form and meter follow that of a ballad. Coleridge uses four line stanzas with rhyme scheme â€Å"acbc” in the septet part poem and rotates the number of syllables in each line of the stanza, starting with a multiple of four, then(prenominal) three, and four, then three. Although there are a few irregular meters, as the twelfth stanza in post I and the tertiary in let out II baffle six lines each, there is a act simple rhyme and flow end-to-end. argillaceous usage is on a more complex internal rhyme, for example â€Å"And through the drifts the snowy clifts” (1.55) and â€Å"A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!” (1.153).\r\nColeridge uses rep eat often in the poem as well. The repetition rout out be seen clearly in the eldest few stanzas of Part III, where â€Å"wearyâ₠¬Â is utilise three judgment of convictions in the first stanza, â€Å"wist” is repeated (II. 152, 153), â€Å"When throats unslaked, with black lips baked” (II.157, 162), and â€Å"A sail! a sail!” is cried in line 161. Often, the repetition is used for point of the line’s allotted syllable number, as in the case of â€Å"See! see!” in line 167, but opposite instances Coleridge uses the repetition to add to the effect. The seafarer is whole a lonely(prenominal) in the beginning of Part IV, and in the third stanza this is expressed by the reiteration of â€Å" merely, alone, all alone” / â€Å"Alone on a wide-cut wide sea!’ (II.232, 233), which emphasizes the solitary scenery.\r\nThe poem has hints of beginning rhyme throughout, often intertwined within the internal rhyme. â€Å" flip off! Unhand me, graybeard tinkers damnbrain!’ / â€Å"Eftsoons his hand dropped he” (II. 11, 12) and â€Å"The western rambl e was all aflame” (1.172) are examples. Furthermore, Coleridge uses these techniques of rhyme, repetition and alliteration to set the pace and the handout of time. â€Å"For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky” 91.250) reads slowly, expressing a slowing down of time, as the Mariner’s weariness seems to last forever. The grandiosity used is plain statement, as the Mariner is telling his ‘true’ tale of his trip at sea. Literally, the poem is a story, with descriptive details. Figuratively, however, deeper meanings chamberpot be observed.\r\nReligious connotations, primarily those rear in deliverymanian belief, are abundant throughout the poem. From the specific song used to show passage of time to the many symbols and patterns, biblical references abound. First in the poem, the ship symbolizes the clay of man. It is affected by the trials and tribulations of the sea, as humanity is affected by life’s trials. But is can also be s teered, by the Mariner, who represents one’s soul. However, the fate of the ship is in the long run determined by the thread and currents in the sea.\r\nThe resurgence of the ship after the wipeout of the albatross, a skeleton ship this time, represents man’s emptiness without rescuer. In Christianity, the body is dead and empty without accepting Christ; the ship that appeared carried Death and Life-in-Death, an obvious corollary. The wind represents the sanctum Ghost, also guiding the ship on course. evenn deeper into Christian beliefs is the possibility that the Mariner exemplifies Cain, a man found in the Bible in the\r\n record of Genesis. Cain killed his br new(prenominal), as the Mariner killed the albatross, and both had to cut across with the consequences of their actions.\r\nThe most apparent symbol, however, is the albatross’ representation of Christ. The albatross is killed by a cross-bow, symbolical of the cross that Christ died on. And the Mar iner wore the bird around his neck, much like a crucifix: â€Å"Instead of the cross, the Albatross” / â€Å" around my neck was hung” (11.141, 142). Acceptance of Christ in Christianity is the one chance of getting to nirvana; the albatross was the ship’s one chance at queue uping the way from the icy death of the sea. With the absence of the albatross, the ship came upon stagnant water. Nothing was directing the ship. proceed this symbolism is the second Pole as a representation of Hell.\r\nThe albatross was leaders the aimlessly drifting ship from the South Pole’s direction, as Christ leads man to heaven. Therefore, the Mariner’s â€Å"own countree” (1.468) represents heaven, the final destination. When he reaches home( heaven), the body (ship) must die, therefore the ship sinks. When the Pilot and his male child see the ship sinking, they act as angels to retrieve the newly departed soul and carry it to heaven. Since the albatross is dead, representing Christ as one of the three parts of the Trinity, the Hermit is the â€Å"resurrected” Christ that comes to take the sin away(predicate) from the Mariner. The symbolism of Christ is recurrent throughout the poem.\r\n idol is also seen through the cheer and Moon. The cheer acts as divinity fudge’s law constantly over the Mariner: â€Å"Nor dim nor red, like God’s own head” / â€Å"The glorious Sun uprist” (II. 97, 98), and the Moon is symbolic of the redemptive, pleasing God that comes to help the Mariner, as is seen with the Hermit and his forgiveness. separate significant Christian symbols are the song 7 and 3 used throughout the Bible and in Coleridge’s work. The Rime of the quaint Mariner is told in seven parts. Seven is the number of days it took God to create the earth in Genesis. The Mariner also â€Å"lay afloat” (1.553) for seven days until the Pilot’s boat picked him up. And, for seven days the Mariner see the curse in his dead crewmate’s eyes. Three represents the Trinity and the number of days\r\nafter Christ died onward His resurrection. When Death-in-Life wins the battle over Death in Part III, she â€Å"whistles thrice” (1.198). The saviors of the Mariner from the sea, namely the Pilot, his son and the Hermit, represent the three bodies of Christ: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.\r\nAll of these symbols add to the theme of sin and repentance in the poem. Coleridge is portraying the get by within oneself after committing a crime, and the tarriance question of when the guilt will pass. By telling the story to another, even an unreceptive audience, the removal of guilt and heavy clog is realized. The Wedding Guest leaves at the remnant of the poem â€Å"A sadder and a wiser man” (1.624), proving the Mariner’s tale had an effect on him. And the Mariner was able to rid himself of the guilt of his sin by avocation the Hermit ’s request to tell his story.\r\nJust as obvious is the theme that relates the Mariner to the story of go and eve and their realization of the knowledge of good versus evil. anthropological discussion of the dualistic mindset of macrocosm (â€Å"us against them”) that begins with the story of Adam and Eve can be used to calculate the theme in The Rime of the superannuated Mariner. The Mariner’s act of violent death the albatross is symbolic of his belief that manhood are above animals; animals are the ‘other’ and frankincense easily disposed of. Although Adam and Eve did not actually physically ‘kill’ anything in the Garden of Eden, their eating of the Forbidden Fruit removed them from the radical of animals that knew neither good nor evil hence eliminating their sense of well- creation and happiness.\r\n other tally can be drawn from the incident that all the crewmates suffered from the Mariner’s lone mistake, as all mankind is verbalise to suffer from the mistake of Adam and Eve. Another important comparison is the role of the ophidian in both the poem and in Genesis. The glide is considered to be the reason for the fall of man, as Adam and Eve unrelenting from God’s grace in the garden after taking the snake’s advice. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Mariner must bless the snakes (â€Å"loving and forgiving them that spitefully use you”) before the curse is removed. The Mariner had to stoop to the worst level, ironically praising the means associated with man’s fall, in order to ascend.\r\nThe theme of newly found in addiction can also be seen within the poem. lifelessness within religious connotations, it is clear that the Mariner made a transition from dependence to a new, enlightened independence. His act of violent death the albatross removed him from the dependence on the ship and the bird. However, all alone, he realizes that slightly sort of de pendence is necessary, and acknowledges the importance of spiritual guidance. The characterization of the Wedding Guest, as he is about to engage in a dependent relationship before being stopped by the effects of the Mariner’s story, imparts the message that independence is more desirable than dependence. â€Å"He went like one that hath been stunned” / â€Å"And is of sense forlorn:” / â€Å"A sadder and a wiser man” (II.622, 623, 624) show that the Wedding Guest, although saddened by the knowledge, was enlightened by the Mariner’s truth, and chose to walk away from the bridegroom’s door.\r\nCritics question whether Coleridge wrote this poem in response to occurrences in his own life. He was known to have an addiction to opium, the oncoming of which began when he was a patient at Christ’s Hospital, as it was the administered pain medication. He was said to be follow by this addiction, the guilt possibly being the same guilt felt b y the Mariner. Following the theme of dependence in the poem, Coleridge may have presented himself as the Mariner, ab initio needing the ship and the crew as he needed the opium. â€Å"Help” from the albatross, which he false away, could have been early rehabilitation efforts. The get by to deal without the albatross was finally baffle as Coleridge accepted the addition (blessing the snakes) and thus accepted help from the Hermit and longed for forgiveness. The haunting and continuous guilt seems to be the womb-to-tomb knowledge that he could never in truth be free from the addiction to opium, just as the Mariner had to share his story to rid himself of the guilt.\r\nRegardless of the many censorious analyses of Coleridge’s lyrical ballad,\r\nThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner proves to be a moralistic story. All can agree that the plot has a lesson to teach, and the Mariner’s rough struggles at sea, and at life, leave him with the shoot down to inform re aders of what life’s lessons he learned. He is troubled by guilt, and has to find someone to listen, to teach. The religious roots run deep within the poem, however Coleridge constructed it so that an in depth study of Christian symbolism is unnecessary to understand his message. uncomplete is the focus on the significance of amount or themes needed. In structure alone, the ballad is an impressive piece.\r\nIts’ simplicity and flow present the story of travel an interesting read. mayhap Samuel Taylor Coleridge himself was following his â€Å"Hermit’s” order to release his guilt by writing this poem, and telling it to his readership for his own personal penance, or maybe it is just a lyrical ballad created from his vivid imagination. Nonetheless, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner succeeds in making the extraordinaire(postnominal) believable; creating graphic word-pictures, some troubled with horror, others piercing with brief visions of exquisite beaut y, but all evoking images so clear and deep they impact the reader’s senses and emotions.\r\n'