“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

1. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” pp. 581- 601

2. “Kubla Khan” • 1.Dome, sacred river, deep caverns, sunless sea…shows a science fiction motif. • 2. effect – echo (dreamlike) • 3. Frightening and sinister…mix of bright and dark…”haunted moon”; woman wails for her demon lover. • 4. Water comes out of a crack in the earth: Hail and foaming rocks spray; 5-mile river sinks into lifeless sea • 5. Images show flow of imagination; This is active for a short time and then disappears • 6. sun and ice…wet and dry…shadow and sun. • 7. The damsel with the dulcimer plays a beautiful song • 8. (a) Build a dome in the air; (b) People would fear him but think he is awesome. • ------------------------------------------------- • P. 577, 2-8 • 2. Burst from the earth in form of a fountain; voices warn of war. • 3. A young woman playing a dulcimer --- re-create this pleasure dome in the air. • 4. Woman = imagination; Song = motivation to rebuild the dome. • 5. Mysterious, miraculous creation of a perfect kingdom • 6. Protecting themselves from the poet…he is fearful bc/ he drank the milk of paradise. • 7. We look at it with creativity and imagination. • 8. “…Miles meandering with a mazy motion…” alliteration – the course of the river.

3. Ques. • 1) Adds to the psychological elements of the ballad…Gives credibility to the mariner’s story • 2) The reader meets the mariner, wedding guest…They are at the reception. • 3) Gray hair; must tell his story; has a glittering, sparkling eye. • 4) Mystery – Departure of ship – It drops below the horizon. • 5) Suspense – Joy of the wedding turns to the mariner’s sad story. • 6) Person trying to chase his enemy • 7) Sign of land (sent from God) • 8)Mariner stops a guest at a wedding and tells him how he sailed to the South Pole.The mariner shoots an albatross that follows the boat.

4. Part II • 9) The crew is angry bc/ the ship stopped moving. There was no breeze. • 10) line 93 – averred/bird; red/head – line 97; line 101 – they/slay • 11) The crew feels helpless and trapped. • 12) Irony – Surrounded by water, but none to drink. • 13) After the mariner shot the albatross, the crew thinks he has done the right thing until the breeze and the boat stop.Then they blame the mariner and hang the albatross around his neck.

5. Part III • 14) Supernatural – The ship stops without a tide; eclipse – bad omen – bc/ of the blockage of light. • 15) A skeleton ship that has Death and his mate; the woman is “Life-in-Death” • 16) internal rhyme; life vs. supernatural (image of Death) • 17) Fear of Death • 18) The crew suffers from thirst and then they encounter a haunted ship. The moon rises and everyone dies but the mariner.

6. Part IV • 19) Your opinion – Yes – The tale, itself, makes the mariner seem like a spirit; however – No – bc/ the wedding guest holds the mariner’s skinny hand. 20) alone – He will also suffer from guilt based on the death of the crew. • 21) Dead bodies should decompose –but they do not. They keep their expressions, which show the degree of guilt of the mariner. • 22) Beams of light and foam from frost on a white sea. • 23) Water snakes in the sea and he feels love towards them bc/ they and him are all that is alive. • 24) Loves living things unintentionally – Forgiveness from the sin of killing the innocent albatross.

7. Part V • 25) Once he sees the beauty of the world it starts to rain. • 26.) Drinks the fresh water; Wonders if he might be a ghost; Wind shakes the boat and he sees lightning. • 27) The dead men (crew) rise. • 28) Give a more horrifying tone when relatives are considered. • 29) Lines 354-357 – S-sound • 30) The spirit from the south polar regions steers the ship. • 31) Dialogue (moves the action), suspense - Foreshadowing for the mariner’s fate.

8. Part V - Summary • 32) (a) Albatross falls from the mariner’s neck; • (b) drinks the fresh water when the rain falls; • (c)Polar spirit steers the vessel; • (d) Animated bodies of the dead crew sail the ship; • (e) Ship stops and mariner faints, • (f) but hears two voices discussing his fate.

9. Part VI • 33) Archetypical journey – In the Odyssey where the Gods speed Odysseus’ ship towards home…Gives a classical flavor and confirms it is a literary ballad. • 34) Earlier the sea looked like was decaying; Now, it looks green which shows life or rebirth. • 35) Alliteration – s-sound which sounds like a breeze. • 36) Reader goes full circle – Shows the joy of the mariner as he returns to the familiar. Seeing landmarks he once knew. • 37) He sees an angel above every dead body, waving light. • 38) internal and end rhyme; alliteration, assonance, consonance; Supernatural elements • 39) Represents all the mariner should be: religious, joyful. The hermit comes out of nowhere and is a stock figure (a figure that appears across literary works).

10. Part VII • 40) – The angels stand above the dead crew members with a beacon and at that point, a pilot, his son, and a hermit pull up toward the mariner in a boat. • 41) Pilot moves closer, becomes afraid, but the hermit tells him to keep moving toward the mariner’s boat. • 42) Ship sank; Mariner was saved by the pilot. • 43) Supernatural – Pilot assumes that the mariner is the devil (another stock character) • 44) Telling the story to bring him peace. • 45) Experiences agony until he finished the tale • 46) Story with a moral • 47) Love all creatures, great and small • 48) Respect ALL life.

11. Samuel Taylor Coleridge • Went to Cambridge Univ. • Read “out of the way” books – ultra-creative • Began English Romanticism period upon writing, “Lyrical Ballads” • 1800-1818 – lectured on Shakespeare’s philosophy and criticism • “Dejection: An Ode” – 1802 – Marriage ended; addicted to opium; Couldn’t discipline his mind to write like he once had. • “Kubla Khan” – • Showed tone of mystery and dread as he used a lyrical tone in a meditative ode. • The poet Byron persuaded him to publish in 1816. • Coleridge said he wrote this while he was in an opium-induced state… Said he woke from a dream and was interrupted by a visitor while writing this…. Said after the visitor left he could remember only a short bit of the dream to reproduce • “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • Part of Lyrical ballads in collaborating with William Wordsworth in 1797-98. • Part of “Lyrical Ballads” – presented ordinary people and events in a fresh and interesting way. • Presentation of supernatural events and characters through imagination and prophetic faith. • Keys in reading: • (1) Results of the killing of the albatross are most important • (2) The story is seen through the eyes of the mariner, whose mind always shifts.

12. p. 606, 1-10, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” • 1) (a.) The Mariner stops the Wedding guest to tell his story. • (b) A storm drives the mariner’s ship to the South Pole where nothing living is seen. • c. The crew is glad to see an albatross. • d. The mariner kills the albatross and the crew criticize and then praise him. • E. A spirit causes them distress bc/ of the killing of the bird. • F. They hang the bird around the Mariner’s neck. • G. A skeleton ship carrying Death (skeleton) and Life-in-Death (ghost) approaches the mariner’s ship. • H. The crew dies • I. The mariner feels love for all of God’s creatures when he sees water snakes dart across the sea. • J. The albatross then drops from the mariner’s neck. • K. Angels help the ship move back on course. • L. The Spirit asks for the mariner to repent for killing the bird. • M. The Angels create light above each dead person and they come back to life. • N. Then a pilot, his son, and a hermit rescue the mariner. • O. He asks for forgiveness and arrives back home.

13. 2-10, p. 606 • 2. Mariner speaks to the Wedding Guest. • 3. Ship stops in the middle of the sea; Mariner and his crew suffer from thirst and heat. • 4. He has hatred in his heart and when he sees the water snakes, he experiences love for life. • 5. He must travel from land to land telling the tale as a way of penance. • 6. Mariner is cursed by what he terms as ugly surroundings. Positive – When he sees the water snakes and feels love for life. Believable – bc/ isolation makes him think about the need for other living things. • 7. First, the Wedding Guest is irritated and scared. He is then hypnotized by the mariner’s presence. At the end, he is dazed – sadder but wiser. • 8. The mariner immediately suffers on the ship due to the death of his crew. Fate – Wander from place to place telling his story. Allegory – albatross as a symbol for life. • 9. Moral – Love Life; Think before you act • 10. Simile – likening the bride’s beauty to a rose • Metaphor – Description of Death and Life-in-Death • Personification – storm is a “tyrant” • Alliteration – The W’s in lines 170-171 – “Western Wave” • Assonance – line 522- The O’s – “The rotted old oak stump” • Internal rhyme – l. 381 – noon/tune – Reflects the stopping of a ship.