Rime of the Ancient Mariner

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Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

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Lyrical Ballads

• Published in 1798
• with William Wordsworth
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• opens the Lyrical Ballads

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Ancient Mariner

• long gray beard and glittering eye
• It is this eye that holds
• the attention of
• the Wedding Guest.
• (suggests supernatural)

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Symbols

• The albatross symbolizes nature.
• Most species of albatrosses wander the southern
  seas, drinking sea water and feeding on squid,
  cuttlefish, and other small sea creatures.
• Sometimes, they follow ships to feed on their
  scraps.
• An old superstition says killing an albatross
  brings bad luck, although sailors have been known
  to kill and eat them.

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Ancient Mariner

• Major Character Change
• Initially, the mariner does not appreciate
  nature. He is not in harmony with nature.
• The mariner needlessly kills the albatross. He
  must then wear the dead bird around his neck.
• Once he begins to appreciate nature, the curse is
  broken and he is able to pray again.

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Wedding Guest

• The guest is approached by the Mariner and cannot
  escape his eye.
• He is fearful of the Mariner, and believes that
  the Mariner is a ghost.

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Themes

• Crime Punishment
• Penance Forgiveness
• Divine Intervention
• Creating a Harmony
• Between Humanity Nature

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Structure Rhyme

• Coleridge divides the poem into seven parts. Most
  of the stanzas in the poem have four lines
  several have five or six lines.
• In the four-line stanzas, the second and fourth
  lines usually rhyme.
• The sun now rose upon the right Out of the sea
  came he, Still hid in mist, and on the leftWent
  down into the sea.

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Meter

• What is iambic pentameter?

• Iambic means foot.

• Pentameter means five measures.

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Meter

• In the stanzas that have four lines, the meter
  alternates between iambic tetrameter (four feet
  per line) and iambic trimeter (three feet per
  line).
• The SUN now ROSE upON the RIGHT Out OF
  the SEA came HE, Still HID in MIST, and ON
  the LEFT Went DOWN in TO the SEA.