Encarta Literature Guides can increase your appreciation and enjoyment of celebrated literary works. Read discussions of the themes, characters, settings, and other qualities that have made these works of lasting importance.

“Rime of the Ancient Mariner, The”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in the small, rural Devonshire town of Ottery St Mary in south-west England on October 21, 1772. The son of a Church of England parish vicar, John Coleridge, and Ann Bowdon Coleridge, the boy entered Dame Key's Reading School in 1775. In 1778 he began studies at the Henry VIII Free Grammar School, which was headed by his father. When John Coleridge died in 1782, Samuel was sent to Christ's Hospital School in London. The youngster was considered dreamy and eccentric by fellow schoolboys, in part because of his enthusiastic interest in metaphysics. He was considered extremely precocious.

In 1791 Coleridge entered Jesus College, Cambridge, but in spite of his scholastic abilities and outstanding intellect, he did not find the experience stimulating and left the university in 1794 without graduating.

On a visit to Oxford in June of that same year, he met Robert Southey, a student there. The two young men had several things in common, including poetic aspirations, radical political and religious views, and sympathy for the principles of the ongoing French Revolution. Coleridge and Southey determined to emigrate to Pennsylvania to establish a 'Pantisocracy', a term devised by Coleridge to describe an ideal democratic community in which there would be equal rule by all. The scheme required the would-be immigrants to marry and Coleridge duly became engaged to Sara Fricker, the sister of Southey's fiancée. Although the Pantisocracy plan was never realized, in 1795 Coleridge went through with the marriage.

In 1796 Coleridge published his first collection of poems, Poems on Various Subjects. In addition, he served as the editor of The Watchman for a couple of weeks, championing the ideals of the French Revolution and of the English political thinker William Godwin.

Coleridge moved to Nether Stowey in Somerset in 1797. This was a fortunate event because William Wordsworth, the 'best poet of the age', and his sister Dorothy settled at nearby Alfoxden House the same year. Coleridge and Wordsworth, who had met casually two years earlier, now developed an intimate friendship. They collaborated on a collection of poetry and jointly published Lyrical Ballads in 1798. This collection included Coleridge's 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. A second edition, published in 1802, featured Wordsworth's preface, which described the writers' poetic theory. Scholars consider the publication of Lyrical Ballads to mark the beginning of the English Romantic Period and, indeed, it is one of the most significant volumes in English literary history.

Over the next couple of years, Coleridge's health deteriorated. To dull the pain, doctors provided him with heavy dosages of laudanum, a narcotic. It is suggested that he may have become addicted to this drug; in any case he fell into a deep depression. In 1802 Coleridge published 'Dejection: An Ode', a poem of despair in which he laments the loss of his health, happiness, and poetic powers. In spite of its bleak outlook, many scholars consider this ode to be Coleridge's most magnificent lyrical work.

In 1803 the poet travelled in Scotland with the Wordsworths. In 1804 he visited Malta in the hope of improving his health. While there, Coleridge served as secretary to Governor Sir Alexander Ball. However after two years, he felt that his health was completely broken and he returned to England. That same year he separated from Sara and their children. One of the lowest points in the poet's life came in 1810, when he quarrelled with Wordsworth and the two men became estranged for two years, although eventually they reconciled their differences.

In 1816 Coleridge took up residence with a physician, James Gilman, at Highgate, in the northern suburbs of London. Coleridge apparently prospered under Gilman's care, and he entered his most sustained period of literary activity, which lasted until 1819. While continuing to lecture and write for newspapers, Coleridge published Biographia Literaria (1817), a brilliant volume of philosophical and literary observations. This volume included his account of the conception of Lyrical Ballads, his insightful examination of Wordsworth's poetry, and his statement of the concept of 'willing suspension of disbelief'.

The final years of Coleridge's life were relatively tranquil. In 1825 he was named an associate of the Royal Society of Literature, and he and Wordsworth toured the Rhineland in 1828. His most pleasurable pursuit during this time may have been entertaining guests in his home. William Hazlitt, in My First Acquaintance with Poets, reported on Coleridge's habit of dazzling visitors with his observations on literature and philosophy. He became known as the 'Sage of Highgate', and his home was the meeting place for the London literati. Coleridge died in Highgate on July 25, 1834.

On a superficial level, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' can be read as a tale of horror in which a mariner is hounded by disaster and supernatural forces after murdering an albatross. However, the poem is much more than that. Coleridge clearly tries to make the supernatural elements of the poem appear as integral parts of the natural world. His underlying theme is that all things that inhabit the natural world have an inherent value and beauty, and that it is necessary for humanity to recognize and respect these qualities. The simple action of the plot, initiated by the mariner's unthinking, destructive act, leads to his tribulations and consequent progress to maturity. 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is an excellent example of Romantic poetry and is often read to understand the characteristics of this poetic genre.

There are two settings in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. In the first scene an ancient mariner stops a guest at a wedding party and begins to tell his tale. The mariner's words then transport the reader on a long ocean voyage, returning to the wedding at the end of the poem. The story is probably set in the late medieval period; the town in which the action occurs is never named, although it is likely that Coleridge's audience would have pictured a British seaport, possibly London.

The mariner describes a voyage he took as a youth from an unnamed European country to the South Pole and back. The initial descriptions of the ship and its crew are fairly realistic, but as the ancient mariner undergoes his quest for understanding and redemption, the supernatural world increasingly engulfs him. His world becomes nightmarish when contrasted with the realistic world that he has left behind. At the same time, in the background, elements from the natural world are always present. For much of the poem, the mariner is adrift in the middle of the ocean, symbolically cut off from all human companionship.

There are several secondary themes in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', relating to Christianity and the supernatural, and two primary themes. The first primary theme concerns the potential consequences of a single unthinking act. When the mariner shoots an albatross, he does it casually and without animosity. Yet this impulsive, destructive act is his undoing. Similar to other Romantics, Coleridge believed that the seeds of destruction and creation are contained each within the other. One cannot create something without destroying something else. Likewise, destruction leads to the creation of something new. The loss of the mariner's ship, shipmates, and his own former self ultimately leads to the regeneration of the mariner.

This process of destruction and regeneration introduces the poem's second main theme. The mariner gradually comes to realize the enormous consequences of his casual act, even as he struggles to accept responsibility for it. To do this he must comprehend that all things in nature are of equal value. Everything, as a part of nature, has its own beauty and is to be cherished for its own sake.

This realization is suddenly apparent when the mariner spontaneously recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes; his heart fills with love for them, and he can bless them 'unaware'. The moral of the tale is manifest in the ancient mariner's final words to the wedding guest: 'He prayeth best, who loveth best/ All things both great and small;/ For the dear God who loveth us,/ He made and loveth all.'

Coleridge focuses in the poem on humanity's relationship to the natural world. It is clear that the killing of the albatross brings dire consequences on the mariner. In a larger sense, it is not his killing of the bird that is wrong, but the mariner's—and by extension humankind's—callous and destructive relationship with nature that is in error. Coleridge intends to confront this relationship and place it in a larger philosophical context. If the reader grasps the lesson that the ancient mariner learns from his experience, then there are social implications.

Although the mariner's killing of the albatross, the terrifying deaths of his shipmates, and the grotesque descriptions of supernatural spirits are disturbing, these elements are intended to develop the story, to illustrate how the mariner's destructive act sets him apart, and to portray vividly the results of his act and the horrifying, repulsive world that he comes to inhabit because of it. The consequences are all the more terrible for having been set in motion by such a thoughtless act in the first place. Coleridge is working towards a goal—to portray the mariner's development into a sensitive, understanding, and compassionate human being. In so doing, he aims to persuade the reader to reconsider his or her attitudes towards the natural world.

Part of Coleridge's technique is to personify aspects of nature as supernatural spirits, yet he does not on any level develop an argument for pantheism (the belief that God and the material world are one and the same and that God is present in everything). A great deal of Christian symbolism and some allegory are present—particularly at the end of Part 4, where connections are made between suffering, repentance, redemption, and penance. These elements combine to form a rich texture of both natural and religious symbolism that can be profoundly moving.

The major character in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is the mariner who relates his chilling experiences. It is he who kills the albatross, suffers the consequences, learns from his sufferings, and earns his redemption. As part of his penance, he spends his life telling his tale to others as a warning and a lesson. At first sight, the mariner appears terrifying in looks and manner, but he is so intense that the wedding guest is compelled to listen. As the tale unfolds, the wedding guest's reactions to the mariner change from scorn to sympathy, and finally even to pity. The wedding guest serves as a plot device to frame and advance the story, but he also undergoes a transformation of his own. Startled by the mariner who accosts him, the wedding guest first appears as a devil-may-care gallant. However, by the time he has heard the mariner's dreadful tale, he has become thoughtful and subdued.

The mariner's shipmates are innocent victims of his rash act. Like the members of the wedding party, the sailors are purposefully kept vague and undeveloped, since Coleridge's intent is that the audience focuses its full attention on the plight of the mariner.

Supernatural beings appear in the poem as symbolic or allegorical figures, representing the forces of nature, life, death, and retribution. The mariner confronts these figures and must ultimately appease them in order to obtain his salvation.

In developing his themes in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner', Coleridge masterfully expresses various concepts through the use of symbols and imagery. Much of the imagery is breathtaking, and the poet's intense descriptions leave a lasting imprint on the reader. This skilful combination of intellectual content and vivid descriptions is not only aesthetically appealing, but also emotionally affecting.

When Coleridge and Wordsworth developed the poetic theory that underlies Lyrical Ballads, they decided to use ordinary speech in their verses—what Wordsworth called 'the language of real life'. Embracing colloquial language was part of Wordsworth's and Coleridge's general break with neoclassical philosophies and traditions, which emphasized logic, structure, and formality. Wordsworth and Coleridge incorporated ballad forms, themes, and characters, and proposed to write poems about simple, natural characters.

In place of an overwhelming emphasis on society—as characterized by the poetry of Alexander Pope—Wordsworth and Coleridge wanted to highlight the importance of the individual. They emphasized human emotions, and stressed the concept that imagination and creativity are forces within the individual that respond to the natural world.

A lyric is typically a short poem that expresses the speaker's thoughts and emotions; a ballad is a dramatic narrative, a poem that tells a story. Lyrical Ballads, therefore, was an attempt by Coleridge and Wordsworth to bring together two poetic genres that previously had been seen as mutually exclusive. Where the two poets were innovative was in their attempt to develop a new poetry to encompass the new realities that they perceived in the world about them.

A wedding guest who does not know the mariner is forced to listen to his tale. Why does Coleridge employ this device? Is the guest meant to guide the reader's response to the mariner's tale?

A wedding is a social celebration of the natural order and of new beginnings. Why is it significant that the mariner tells his story to a wedding guest? Would the moral of the story be changed if the mariner had told his tale to the groom or bride?

In later versions of the poem, Coleridge removed many archaic words and spellings that had appeared in the original version. Among his revisions was the addition of the epigraph and the marginal glosses. How important are the glosses to your understanding of the poem? Does this suggest that Coleridge was successful or unsuccessful in conveying his meaning poetically?

Many Romantics believed that a writer could only write when inspired to do so. What do Coleridge's revisions of the poem indicate about the importance of editing in the writing process?

Why does the mariner kill the albatross? Is his action a typically human response or trait? Why does Coleridge spend comparatively little time describing the incident?

What is the significance of the albatross being hung around the mariner's neck?

The ancient mariner's shipmates all die unpleasant deaths. Is it fair that they should suffer because of his actions?

At the beginning of Part 4, the wedding guest interrupts the mariner's story to express his fears. Why does Coleridge not have the mariner tell his tale straight through?

What is the importance of the line, 'I looked to heaven, and tried to pray' (1. 244)?

Discuss the meaning and importance of the last eight lines. Is there a moral to the poem? Where is it explicitly stated?

Symbols are important in the poem. Traditionally, snakes have represented both good (as in the symbol for the medical profession, where they represent healing powers) and evil (as with the serpent in the Garden of Eden). What other examples are there of the symbolic use of snakes? Explain why Coleridge involved a water snake in the poem's climax.

In literature and folklore the human eye is typically considered a mirror of the soul. Discuss Coleridge's use of this tradition, examining each of the incidents in which eyes are mentioned in the poem (including lines 3, 12, 139, 144, 215, 228, 251, 255, 260, 332, 416, 436, 440, 485, 560, 567, and 618).

In terms of the poem's theme, compare 'The very deep did rot: O Christ!/ That ever this should be!/ Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs/ Upon the slimy sea' (11. 123-126) with 'O happy living things! no tongue/ Their beauty might declare' (11. 282-283). Consider the idea of the appreciation of life and the fact that 'a spring of love gushed' from the mariner's heart as he blessed the snakes 'unaware'. He had killed the albatross in a thoughtless moment; why is it important that he bless the snakes unthinkingly?

Discuss Coleridge's use of imagery in the poem, citing examples to verify your points.

Discuss the use of Christian elements in the poem.

How does Coleridge incorporate supernatural elements into the poem? What is the function of these elements? How do the supernatural elements relate to the natural elements?

Do you think that Coleridge succeeds in using simple, colloquial language in the poem? Be sure to consider the impact of the ballad form and rhyme scheme on the narrative style.

Read the statements of purpose in Wordsworth's preface to Lyrical Ballads and in Chapter 14 of Coleridge's Biographia Literaria. Determine how well 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' meets the poets' intended goals and utilizes their stated methods of expression.

'Kubla Khan' is frequently read in schools as a companion piece to 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. The two poems are different in that 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is a finished narrative, whereas the incomplete 'Kubla Khan' is best described as a lyrical mood poem. Both of the poems are Romantic in conception, presenting foreign locales and dealing with the past. Each is expressed in 'natural' language and is concerned with mystical and supernatural events.

Source: Beacham’s Guide to Literature for Young Adults. Copyright by Gale Group, Inc. Reprinted by permission.

Appears in

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor