Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part 1
The good south wind still blew behind, but no sweet bird did follow
"Sweet" has connotations of innocence, the mariner is no longer innocent and has lost any opportunity for salvation and the live his life positively again. This is also a representation of the crimes victim which further emphasizes the severity of his crime and how unnecessary it was. Coleridge's love of nature could be brought in as context here
"How glazed each weary eye, When looking westward, I beheld A something in the sky"
"Westward" is often a symbol of hope, new beginnings, it is possible that the Mariners fate may shift in preceeding stanzas. The repetition of "weary" and "glazed" shows that the crime is weighing on him, he can see so vividly what the crewmen's suffering looked like.
And I had done a hellish thing
"hellish" implies sin, further depicts the sheer weight of his crime. We have a moment of anagnorisis where the mariner acknowledges his wrong doings. This contrasts with his characterization throughout the rest of the poem as being selfish and not accepting of his crime
Hot and copper sky, the bloody sun, at noon, Right above the mast did stand, No bigger than the moon.
"hot and copper sky" has hellish connotations and also contrasts with the cold sea he is closer to. There is no longer a mist in the sky which could imply his fate has been decided for him and it doesn't appear to look good. "bloody sun" again the use of red shows he is in a bad place within the novel this is the height of his punishment. "No bigger than the moon" shows natures dominance, the moon also shows the shift into night time, he may face his darkest moment
"Each throat Was parched, and glazed each eye A weary time! a weary time!
"parched" exaggerates extreme thirst and shows us just how bad the Mariners punishment is. The fact that all of his crewmen's eyes are "glazed" could be linked to the Mariners "glittering" eye, shows that despite them not committing the crime, they have to bear the same burden as him and crime has encompassed them. "A weary time!" gives us the sense that time is passing by painfully slowly for them, time is the enemy within this poem, the repetition of a weary time shows that the Mariner has suffered a great deal in punishment for his crime and will hold this guilt for the rest of his life. We however don't seem to see any guilt from the Mariner YET, he seems rather self serving still.
He holds him with his skinny hand
"skinny" suggests frailty, holding on implies the sailors desperation to tell his story, creates a power dynamic between them
"Instead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung"
AAB rhyme scheme? The fact that the an Albatross, which is meant to be a symbol of good fortune is hanging around his neck could symbolise his curse due to him committing the crime, the comparison to a "cross" which would connote him being an almost God like figure, or someone who adheres to religious principles with the actuality of it being an Albatross shows how he no longer has access to religion as a way out, we have already seen that he is unable to pray as part of his punishment.
The very deep did rot: O Christ! That ever this should be! Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs Upon the slimy sea.
Abrupt mention of religion shows a sense of panic within the Mariner, man looks to religion often as a last resort when they feel in danger, but Coleridge is trying to emphasize here that not even religion can save you from the unstoppable force of nature. "Slimy things did crawl with legs" snake like connotations, suggests corruption of the supernatural haunting him, could be beginning to hallucinate (Coleridge's opium addiction?)
The Mariner hath his will
Again shows the power dynamic, archaic language
Long grey beard and glittering eye
Both implications of being old and wise, can see his memories out at sea have been ingrained into his mind through the glitter in his eye. Things that appear beautiful on the outside can often be deceiving.
'God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!— Why look'st thou so?'—With my cross-bow I shot the ALBATROSS.
Caesura. Blunt, no expression leaves the reader to question the criminals motive as it was so sudden. Short sentence implies this is the most important part of the poem. Sudden switch to first person, could be a confession? Albatross supposed to be a good omen, which he has destroyed. Stereotypically, sailors were known for being suspicious people and looked for signs in everything, prehaps the Mariners superstitions were the reason he shot the Albatross.
The guests are met the feast is set
Caesura. Sense of order here which is being disrupted by the mariners presence, characterizes him
"At length did cross an Albatross, Through the fog it came, As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in Gods name"
Coleridge father was a clergyman, religion may have been forced upon him throughout his life, he often discusses religion in his poems. The relgious tone throughout this poem is heavy
The Wedding Guest stood still, And listens like a three years child
Didactic (educational) tone almost like a child's story
Glimmered the white moon shine
Facade of nature being beautiful when in reality it is the most harmful and powerful force. "white" implies purity and innocence, again the relfection of his memories in his eye suggests being wise
"cracked" "growled" "roared" "howled" "swound" (to have a fit)
Fast pace suggests aggression. Semantic field of zoomorphic nature
"Went down into the sea"
Foreshadows future descent into something bad, the sea implies isolation , could be the mariners punishment/redemption?
"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."
His fellow crewmen have completely isolated him, here we are first introduced to any kind of punishment. The fact that he murdered the bird means that the ship is stuck and unable to move. "Wretch!" use of passionate exclamation shows the mariner is beginning to feel real guilt for his crime
The bridegrooms doors are open wide
Insight into the setting of a wedding. Positive setting opposes the isolation of the sea. The juxtaposition of the wedding setting and the sea setting serves to emphasize how lonely the mariner now is, perhaps due to his crime
"sloping" "dipping" "forward bends" "drove fast" "loud roared"
Lexis of danger, real danger. Nature has the ultimate power, could bring in Eco criticism here
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, The furrow followed free; We were the first that ever burst Into that silent sea.
Lexis of innocence "fair" "white" "silent", could be emphasising the innocence of the bird and as they are all things leaving him (eg "white foam flew") shows how his crime pushes him further and further away from innocence. The use of pathetic fallacy of natures movement shows it truly is the dominant force against man. He seems to be in purgatory (place between heaven and hell) at this stage. The seas "foam" is created when the wind goes in one direction and the sea the other which shows his tampering with nature has unnatural consequences. Sibilance of "silent sea" implies the harshness of the environment as well as their lack of movement as their sense of direction died alongside the bird
"A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!"
Listing form implies
"Dismal sheen"
Oxymoron, sheen is a shiny cover, almost as if the darker side of nature is effectively hidden by its beauty
Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon—' The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, For he heard the loud bassoon.
Pathetic fallacy. Guest wants to leave, feels uncomfortable
"At first it seemed a little speck, And then it seemed a mist ......A certain shape I wist"
Possible hallucinations, reflective of Coleridges opium addiction? Maybe felt there was a glimmer of hope for him of recovery, but then he relapsed? ABCB rhyme scheme again asserts the freedom Coleridge has given himself in structuring his poems shows the Mariners confession. Personal pronoun "I" shows he seems to only care about himself despite being among his fellow crewmen's suffering. "Wish" is quite childlike, the fact that he is putting his fate down to wishing shows his own desperation to be free from the consequences of his crime.
The bright eyed marinier
Postivity contrasts with the nature of the crime, inticing
"Red as a rose is (the bride)"
Red is often used in Literature to represent blood, or to show something that is negatively affecting a character, used to foreshadow further dark events
"Round and Round it flew"
Relentlesness of nature
The sun came up on the left(line 25) The Sun now rose upon the right(Pt2 Line 83)
Shift in direction and "came up" to "rose" shows how with time, nature has gained dominance over man, uncontrollable nature.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down, 'Twas sad as sad could be; And we did speak only to break The silence of the sea!
Shows the he is trapped in purgatory. "as sad as sad could be" makes us feel a degree of pathos for the mariner as to some extent the punishment is rather extreme. The repetition of silence of the sea shows his frustration at their lack of movement despite it being entirely his doing
"Unhand me, grey-beard loon"
Stereotypes of the old, characterization of the mariner as being a strange man uncomfortable to be around
"The ice did split with a thunder fit, The helmsman steered us through!"
Sudden change to a more positive tone, They are finally freed due to the presence of the bird
"And now the storm blast came, was tyranous and strong, he struck with his overtaking wings"
Sudden shift in tone/ weather setting implies the strong uncontrollable force that is nature against man."Tyranous" personfies the storm as being sneaky and devious. "Struck" implies violence, the zoomorphism of the storm implies it is free, nothing is as free and dominant as nature
"And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wonderous cold: and ice mast high came floating by, as green as emerald"
Suggests entrapment by nature through the ice. "Emerald" suggests nature is mans most precious posession. "Green" has connotations of envy cited as a possible reason for the murder of the bird, has implications of all that is natural. "Wounderous cold" oxymoron shows the contrast between the harsh conditions and how beautiful nature is, the conflict of the two words could foreshadow later conflict within the poem.
"Day after day, day after day,/ We stuck, nor breath nor motion;/ As idle as a painted ship/ Upon a painted ocean."
Suggests his never ending guilt for his crime, it will be a lifetime. "as idle as a painted ship" simile, Ironic use of art to tell his story, usually has positive/picturesque connotations but reality is anything but this for the Mariner.
Out of the sun came he (the Albatross)!
Sun is personified here to show pastoral beauty and importance of nature according to Coleridge.
Nor dim nor red, like God's own head, The glorious Sun uprist: Then all averred, I had killed the bird mist.
The introduction of the color red is often use in films and literature to show a darker element to a characters life. Within Rime it is used to show the Mariners descent into punishment/damnation. "Like Gods own head" could have connotations of judgement day and how God has ultimate environmental mastery no matter how much man may believe they are dominant. Could show the battle between religion and the Mariners ignorance to it. The epithet "glorious Sun" as well as it being in upper case letters shows how the Mariner now realises the sanctity of the environment but only once it is too late, he is now devoid of the suns heat or any other pleasure. Repetition of "for all averred" emphasizes the weight of his punishment/his guilt, although he may be using this to make him look like a victim? it is frank and confessional
That brought the fog and mist. 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist.
The repetition of "that brought the fog and mist" shows his inner battle and shows his anxiety. His punishment/damnation is closing in on him and he has no way of escaping. "Fog and mist" shows how now he has committed his crime his fate is unclear which builds on the tension.
"Every tongue..... was withered at the root; We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot"
The use of ABCB rhyme scheme shows how there is no order to the Mariners situation, the freedom in Coleridges rhyming is also reflective of how the poem is confessional. The comparison of the punishment for his crime to being "choked with soot" implies he feels suffocated by the weight of his crime, the use of personal pronoun "we" suggests the sailors as a collective are also suffering the burden of his crime alongside him.
"The ice was here, the ice was there, the ice was all around"
They are surrouded, repetition emphasises natures ultimate dominance over man, this moment is "frozen" in his mind cold bitter memory
"Water, water every where, and all the boards did shrink, water water every where, nor any drop to drink"
Torturous deprivation of basic physiological needs, feel pathos towards his crew members who were innocent in this situation but have to live with his punishment. The repetition of "water water" links to being cleansed of sins, but he does not have access to it and therefore will be unable to repent. It could also imply that he is drowning in his own punishment and further pushes nature as the dominant force. "shrinking" could be metaphorical of him being forced down to his primal self by nature, all his previous freedoms have been taken from him.
"It is an ancient mariner and he stoppeth one of three"
We are first introduced to the criminal here. He is an old man who was once a sailor which is a-typical of a criminal in traditional crime texts. We often associate being old with being meager and vulnerable but also being wise and of experience. "One of three" implies they had no choice
About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at night; The water, like a witch's oils, Burnt green, and blue and white.
"Death fires danced" personification of hell/his punishment/his fate shows that it is closing in on him "danced" suggests his punishment is something to be celebrated. "witches oils" supernatural brought in again, the oils could be opium as a reference to Coleridge's own Albatross of addiction. Witchcraft also directly opposes religion which shows further the corruption of the supernatural. "Burnt green" could link to the emerald reference in Part 1, could imply the burning of sins, we wear on sins (on Ash Wednesday) as a way to ask God for forgiveness so it could imply he is beginning to accept his crime. "Green" links to the Brighton Rock sea as well which links to how crime has infected all that is natural both in this more picturesque setting and in that of Brighton. Color imagery serves to highlight the beauty of nature contrasting with his crime against it.
"Ah! well a-day! what evil looks Had I from old and young!"
"Evil" gives us further connotations of hell, part of his punishment is also his rejection by his fellow crewmen who despise him for shooting the albatross. As the Mariner may symbolise Coleridge himself, prehaps the crewmen are symbolic of the judgement Coleridge may fear that he faces from those around him for his opium addiction.
Out of the sea came he, still hid in mist, and on the left Went down into the sea
"Mist" could symbolize his crime and how he will always see it through the lens of guilt. It also has connotations of secrecy and being hidden from society's rules and boundaries, he is also devoid of the comfort of the suns heat the pathetic fallacy of cold weather shows the immediate damage the crime has done to the environment, the whole poem could be a form of social commentary on mans abuse of animals and the environment and how we are often blind to the consequences of our everyday sins against them
"And some in dreams assured were Of the Spirit that plagued us so; Nine fathom deep he had followed us From the land of mist and snow."
"Plagued" hightlights the sickness of crime and reflects the mariners eternal punishment, the "Spirit" provides us with further religious imagery, the repeated motifs of the supernatural shows that man is the weakest in the worlds hierarchy, nature, religion and even the supernatural dominate.
