Rime of the Ancient
Mariner Part III
By: Matthew Voicu
Sean Denney
Introduction
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Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part III
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in Ottery St Mary,
Devonshire on October 21, 1772. He studied at Jesus College.
He worked with William Wordsworth to produce Lyrical
Ballads. In 1799, Coleridge fell in love with Sara Hutchinson,
where they both worked on the political magazine: The Friend.
After a short wile, Coleridge became addicted to opium, and
settled down in Highgate, and died on July 25, 1834.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge." The Literature
Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries.
Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/646/>.
"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/>.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part
III
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"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.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part
III
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With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
We could nor 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!
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part
III
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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?
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part
III
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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 Nightmare 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.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part
III
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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 clomb above the eastern bar
The horned moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part
III
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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 crossbow!"
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"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge." The Literature
Network: Online Classic Literature, Poems, and Quotes. Essays & Summaries.
Web. 07 Feb. 2011. <http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/646/>.
Paraphrase
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He sees a ship far off. They rejoice thinking they are
saved, but then despair when they wonder how a ship
can sail without wind. It is a skeleton ship with only a
woman, Life-in-Death, and a mate, Death, for crew.
They play dice for the crew and she wins. The sun
sets and the skeleton ship departs. The crew dies, one
by one, and their souls fly out.
"Synopsis of Ancient Mariner." Saint Anselm College
Home Page : Saint Anselm College. Web. 07 Feb.
2011.
<http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/dbanach/mariner.
htm>.
Paraphrase
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Each sailor was thirsty, and tired, but saw something when
they looked westward
It looked like a speck, but then the speck began to move, and
began to take shape.
The shape began to come closer, and steered on course.
Their throats were dry and were too tired to make a sound. He
managed to shout a sail, which means he sees a ship.
They cheered the sight of the ship.
They saw the ship working it’s way towards them, without a
breeze or a tide.
It was sundown when the ship pulled next to them.
The ship was sitting between them and the sun.
He questions the fact that the ship is near.
Paraphrase
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He looks onboard and finds that a woman and death
being the only crew of the ship.
He describes her as a beautiful life-in-death.
They play a game of dice, and she wins.
The sun goes down and the ghost ship leaves.
They all looked up at the dim stars, and he looked at
them and saw they had pale faces.
One after the other they began to die. Each of them
would thump to the ground dead.
Their souls flew off like the whiz of his crossbow.
Diction
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The author uses formal language.
The poet creates vivid expressions, he uses words that help
describe what is going on within the poem. And give you the
feel as if you were there with them on the ship.
There aren’t any words that have any other connotations.
The word albatross was probably used to describe the ghost
ship.
"Albatross | Define Albatross at
Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com | Free Online Dictionary
for English Definitions. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
<http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/albatross>.
Tone and Mood
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In the beginning of the poem, the author
conveys a sense of hope. This is soon replaced
with misery and hopelessness.
The poem is a sad poem.
The irony of the poem comes from the part
where the boat who they think is there to
rescue them in fact kills them.
This poem conveys feelings of hopelessness.
Rhetorical Situation
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The main speaker of this poem is the sailor,
who speaks about the crew and the terrible
experience on the ship.
The sailor is not directly speaking to you, but
saying what is happening without a truly
visible audience.
Figurative Languages
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The poem contains similes such as: “And
every soul it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow!”, “Are those
her sails that glance in the sun,
Like restless gossameres? ”, and “Her skin was
as white as leprosy…”.
The poem gives personifications to the waves
such as: “The western wave was all a-flame ”
Imagery
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You can just imagine the sailor on the ship not having
food or water for many dies on the edge of death.
When he sees a ship that can come to the rescue of
him and his crew it turns out to be a ghost ship.
The author describes how his body looks and how he
describes the other ship coming.
The poem uses symbolism when the Death and LifeIn-Death are playing the dice game to see the future
of his crew. Also when he is describing what the other
person looks like.
Sound
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The poem has an external rhyme scheme.
The poem repeats a few words, the author
refers to the ship as a speck more than once,
and repeatedly says: “With throats unslaked,
with black lips baked ”
The poem also contains alliteration: “Four
times fifty living men”
When reading the poem, the reader most
usually finds the words to be a euphony.
Structure of the Poem
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The poem is written as a ballad.
The poem is written in stanza form.
The poem also has a rhyme scheme: a b b a c d d c…
"Poetry Analysis: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,
by Samuel Coleridge - by Paul Dice Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Web. 11
Feb. 2011. <http://www.helium.com/items/370780poetry-analysis-the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-bysamuel-coleridge>.
Conclusion/Evaluation
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The mood set by the author was very clear.
The saddening mood is set with the departure
of the ghost ship, which is the main part of the
poem that sets the mood.
The strongest element to the poem, was the use
of imagery. It described and set the mood for
the poem. The weakest part of the poem was
the rhyme scheme, because it is not highly
visible, and sometimes gets in the way.
Personal Reactions
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The poem is long, but does not describe what
happens. It skips, and does not go in detail as
to what happens. The imagery was very
descriptive, even though the poem lacked a
good description of the plot.
The poem gave us a feeling of despair at the
end.