“Rime of the Ancient Mariner Pt.
3”
by: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
Presented by:
Shuntaria Davis
Alicia Dixon
Introduction
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner Pt. 3”
by: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
(1772-1834)
About Samuel…
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in Ottery St Mary. After his father's death Coleridge was sent away to Christ's
Hospital School in London and also studied at Jesus College. In Cambridge Coleridge met the radical, future poet
laureate Robert Southey.
Coleridge's collection Poems On Various Subjects was published in 1796, and in 1797 appeared Poems. In the
same year he began the publication of a short-lived liberal political periodical The Watchman. He started a close
friendship with Dorothy and William Wordsworth, from it resulted Lyrical Ballads, which opened with Coleridge's
"Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and ended with Wordsworth's "Tintern Abbey".
Suffering from neuralgic and rheumatic pains, Coleridge had become addicted to opium. During the following years
he lived in London, on the verge of suicide. He died in Highgate, near London on July 25, 1834.
MLA
"Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online. Discuss." The Literature Network:
Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries. Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://www.onlineliterature.com/coleridge/>.
The Poem
There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parched, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye,
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist:
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
We could not laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood!
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! a sail!
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in,
As they were drinking all.
See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!
Hither to work us weal;
Without a breeze, without a tide,
She steadies with upright keel!
The western wave was all a-flame
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright Sun;
When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the Sun.
And straight the Sun was flecked with bars,
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!)
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered,
With broad and burning face.
Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!
Are those her sails that glance in the Sun,
Like restless gossameres!
Are those her ribs through which the Sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that Woman all her crew?
Is that a DEATH? and are there two?
Is DEATH that woman's mate?
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Night-Mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice;
"The game is done! I've won! I've won!"
Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out:
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea.
Off shot the spectre-bark.
We listened and looked sideways up!
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip!
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed
white;
From the sails the dew did drip-Till clombe above the eastern bar
The horned Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
One after one, by the star-dogged Moon
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.
Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down one by one.
The souls did from their bodies fly,-They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul, it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my CROSS-BOW!
Stanzas 35-40
Poem Paraphrased
They have spent a long time
drifting on the ocean with no wind
or water, and everyone is sick of
it. Then one day, the Mariner
sees something coming from the
west; as in, the opposite direction
as the Mariner's sweet home
England.
He can't decide whether the thing
is a small "speck" or a more
spread-out "mist." The shape
starts to come into focus and he
became aware ("wist") of what
looked like. It moves around in
zigzag fashion as if escaping
supernatural forces. Hey, join the
club.
The speaker finally realizes what
it is, and he wants to shout, but
his mouth is too dry. His lips are
sunburned and caked with dried
blood. When you're as talkative
as the Mariner, you know its
trouble when you're so
dehydrated that you can't speak.
Fortunately, he has a solution that
would make the guy from the
Survivor Man TV show proud. He
bites his arm to wet his lips with
his own blood, just enough so
that he can shout
He shouts that he sees a sail.
His crewmates are so happy that
they shout "gramercy!" meaning,
"Thank heavens!"
The ship is coming their way.
Maybe their crew will have water.
Stanzas 41-45
The sun is setting in the west,
and the ship is approaching
from the west. Here Coleridge
provides a complicated image
to illustrate how the ship is
really – get ready for it – a
Ghost Ship!
Here's the image: the
mysterious ship sails in front
of the setting sun, and rather
than blocking out part of the
sun completely, it just looks
like the sun has bars in front
of it. In other words, the ship
looks like a skeleton.
The ship's sails aren't normal
sails – you know, the kind that
can hold wind. Instead, they
look like tattered spider webs,
or "gossamers." Its hull looks
like ribs. Worst of all, he can
now see that the crew
consists of only two people:
Death and Life-in-Death.
Well, shoot.
We imagine death as the
hooded guy with the sickle, or
something like that, while
Life-in-Death is a woman who
appears relatively normal
except for her pale, diseasedlooking skin.
Stanzas 46-51
When the ship approaches, Death and
Life-in-Death are playing a game. (Please
be Parcheesi, please be Parcheesi.) They
are playing dice (no!) to decide who will
gain the upper hand.
We have the feeling that the fate of the
Mariner and his friends rests on this dice
game.
We have a winner: Life-in-Death! She's
just won power over a bunch of raggedy,
thirsty sailors. She's probably wishing she
had gone on The Price is Right instead –
that dinette set is looking pretty good right
about now.
But nothing happens…yet.
Night falls, and the mysterious Ghost Ship
("spectre bark") sails away.
Everyone is waiting to see what will
happen. Coleridge plays the scene like a
suspense movie, complete with dew going
drip-drip from the sails. The partial moon
rises, and it looks like a "horn," or, if you
prefer, a smiley face. One of the "horns" of
the moon has a star next to it. This seems
to be a bad sign, for some reason.
Suddenly, everyone on the ship begins to
die. They don't make a fuss but kind of just
slump over. However, they do make sure
to curse the Mariner with their eyes before
they go.
There are 200 men on the boat besides
the Mariner, and they all die. Their souls
escape their dead bodies and shoot past
the Mariner like the crossbow with which
he shot the Albatross.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Part III Summary."
Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 08
Feb. 2011. <http://www.shmoop.com/rime-of-ancientmariner/part-3-summary.html>.
Diction …
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The language used by this
poet is formal, concrete,
vivid, and obsolete.
It creates vivid expressions
and innovative ideas
The etymology of words,
such as wist and unslaked,
are important to the
meaning of the poem.
Tone && Mood …
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The atmosphere created by Coleridge is very
serious and suspenseful. He speaks with a
very strong tone. It’s somewhat spine chilling
and creepy, yet at the same time he makes
sure to be very straight forward.
There is no irony.
What is the rhetorical situation implied by
the poem ?
The Mariner is speaking to
the rest of the crew
members. They’ve been
drifting on the ocean and
finally the speaker notices
another ship but fails to
realize it’s a Ghost Ship of
Life-In-Death. Suddenly
everyone begins to die and
their souls escape their
bodies.
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The reader is being
spoken to directly; not
overhearing the
speaker or being
ignored by it.
Figurative Language …
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Similes- ”And every soul, it passed me by, Like the whizz of my CROSS-BOW!” ; “Her
locks were yellow as gold” ; “Her skin was as white as leprosy” ; “Are those her sails
that glance in the Sun, Like restless gossameres”
Metaphor- “her looks were free”
Personification- “It plunged and tacked and veered.” (a speck) “Are those her ribs
through which the Sun Did peer, as through a grate? And is that Woman all her crew?
Is that a DEATH? and are there two? Is DEATH that woman's mate? Her lips were red,
her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Night-Mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold. The naked
hulk alongside came, And the twain were casting dice; "The game is done! I've won!
I've won!“ Quoth she, and whistles thrice. The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out: At
one stride comes the dark; With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea. Off shot the spectrebark. We listened and looked sideways up! Fear at my heart, as at a cup, My life-blood
seemed to sip! The stars were dim, and thick the night, The steersman's face by his
lamp gleamed white; From the sails the dew did drip-- Till clombe above the eastern
bar The horned Moon, with one bright star Within the nether tip. One after one, by the
star-dogged Moon Too quick for groan or sigh, Each turned his face with a ghastly
pang, And cursed me with his eye. Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh
nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one. The
souls did from their bodies fly,-- They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed
me by, Like the whizz of my CROSS-BOW!”
Imagery …
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He describes the ship when he talks about it
appearing as a little speck.
He broadly describes the atmosphere around him.
“Life-In-Death”; Her lips were red, her looks were
free, Her locks were yellow as gold, Her skin was as
white as leprosy...”
Symbolism- ship coming at them describes the
death approaching
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Their souls escaping their bodies and shooting past the
Mariner symbolizes the way in which the crossbow shot the
Albatross.
Sound ….
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Rhyme scheme- ABCB
Repetition- he repeats some words
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Ex. “See! See!”, “A sail! A sail!”, “I’ve won! I’ve
won!” etc.
Alliteration
-ex. The western wave was all a-flame
• There isn’t any cacophony or euphony
sounds really because he doesn’t use any
harsh or pleasing sounds.
•
Poem Structure …
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It’s standard formed
It consists of many stanzas
Formal structure
Rhyme pattern- ABCB
Evaluation
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Coleridge did a good job with getting his point
across. He was straightforward with
everything, which played a role in the
creating the mood so you wouldn’t have to be
very skeptical. His strongest elements will
have to be the way he worded the poem and
it was well thought out. Overall he did a good
job with the process of writing the poem.
Personal Reaction ….
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We didn’t really enjoy the poem because it
seemed pointless. It was heavily worded with
difficult words and hard to understand. In no
way, shape, or form did it relate to us, but
more power to Coleridge :)
THE END .