SUMMARY
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is
a ballad, that is, a simple song-poem that tells an old story. Walter Pater describes it as a “Romantic”
poem. According to William Wordsworth
the poem was planned in the autumn of 1797. Much the greatest part of the story was
Coleridge;s invention. The idea was
founded on a dream Coleridge;s friend had had And had told him. Some spirits had to kill many mariners and to
cause a hellish storm in the ocean. But
Wordsworth suggested that the ancient mariner should kill an albatross and
consequently the spirits of the region should take revenge its killing upon the
mariners. He also supplied
Coleridge with the idea of the
navigation of the ship by dead mariners.
In particular. Wordsworth also
composed two lines orally and Coleridge
wrote them towards his poem at the beginning.
The lines are;
“And
listen’d like a three years’ child :
The
Mariner had his will.”
According to the original
plan. Coleridge and Wordsworth had to
write the poem in association with each other.
But the plan was soon discarded, and Coleridge completed the poem by
himself.
The poem was begun on 13th
November, 1797 and completed by September, 1798, when it appeared in Lyrical
Ballads. As it stands, it is a long
poem consisting of 625 lines. It has
been divided into seven Parts. On the
basis of its theme it may be called a story of the sin and punishment given to
the sinners by the supernatural. While
in great mental pain the ancient mariner does an act of love. And he gets the kindness of good spirits that
bring his ship back to England.
An Ancient Mariner tells a
wedding-guest his story as follows :
Once his ship is driven toward the
South Pole by a storm. In a certain
place icebergs surround his ship. All
the mariners on board are in great misery.
Then suddenly a large sea bird called Albatross comes through the
snow-fog and sits on on the ship. The
icebergs begin to split, and a favorable south wind begins to drive the ship
northward. So the mariners call the bird
as a bird of good omen. The bird comes
over to the ship every day and eats the food the mariners give it. But one day the Ancient Mariner whimsically
kills the Albatross, with his crossbow.
Part – II
His act of cruelty is a sin and so
curse occurs the mariners. The ship is
held by punishing spirits. So it is becalmed and comes to a standstill. It gets very hot and the mariners suffer from
extreme heat and thirst. Some mariners
dream that an punishing spirit is taking revenge the killing of the
Albatross. They describe their dream to
the Ancient Mariner. They also remove
the charm of the cross from his neck. they hang the dead Albatross about his neck.
Part – III
Days pass one after another. Then one day the guilty Ancient Mariner
observes a skeleton ship with two supernatural sitting in it. The unhappiness and pain of the mariner’s
increase and one day two hundred mariners fall dead on board.
Part – IV The Ancient Mariners tries to pray but
cannot. Then one day he sees some bright
coloured water-snakes. A spring of love
comes apart in his heart, and he blesses them.
This breaks the spell of the curse and God forgives him.
Immediately peace returns to his heart, and he is able to sleep.
Part – V A
favorable wind begins to blow, and a group of angelic spirits enter the dead
bodies of the mariners and breathe life into them.
Part – VI They also bring his ship back to England. But near the land they leave the dead bodies
of the mariners and disappear. The ship
also sinks. Yet the pilot and a hermit
save the Ancient Mariner.
Part – VII Since then, the Ancient Mariner has moved from
land to land, and tells his tale to this or that. And his advice to the wedding-guest is that
the best prayer to God is to love all His creatures, great or small.
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