ipl-logo

Voice In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

688 Words3 Pages

Even though Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an influential piece of poetry in the English language, it's still a doozy of a confusing read. It's about an old sailor who stops a wedding guest from joining a celebration of marriage. Upon their meeting, he says, "I know you want to get your drink and your dance on, but now I'm going to tell you a long story about how I got my entire crew killed and almost died myself because I acted like a jerk while sailing the far reaches of the globe."
The chances are that this poem is unlike anything you've read before. It will probably leave you with a bunch of questions: Why does Coleridge speak in such an old-fashioned voice? Why does the poem sound so corny? Did Coleridge think …show more content…

It's one thing to mess up because you haven't thought through the consequences of your action. It's quite another to think, "Yeah, if I do this, it's going to cause huge problems for me, and I'm going to wish I hadn't done it, but I'm going to do it anyway."

Maybe your parents said that if you went out a certain night you'd be grounded for a month, but you decide to do it anyway, knowing full well that your parents will find out, and it totally won't be worth it. That's a trivial example. How about if a close friend or family member tries to help you, and for no apparent reason, you do something nasty that drives them away? That's more like it.

The Mariner's act of shooting the albatross (that had once brought good luck to his ship) is the mother of irrational, self-defeating acts. He never offers a good explanation for why he does it, and his crewmates get so upset that they hang the dead albatross around his neck as a burden, so he won't forget what he did. To have an albatross around your neck is to have a constant reminder of a big mistake you made. Instead of the gift that keeps on giving, it's the blunder that keeps on taking. As in, "I spent all my money on that motorcycle because I thought it would be cool, but now I can't sell it, and it's too expensive to maintain. That thing is just an albatross around my

Show More
Related

Right And Wrong In Lord Of The Flies, By William Golding

805 Words | 4 Pages

Have you ever done something that you knew was wrong but did it anyway? Most people have. But why is it so terrifying? It's so scary because when you do something wrong, there is always a punishment waiting for you. It's the adrenaline rush before you get caught, that makes people partake in more risky behavior.

Read More

The Contents Of The Dead Mans Pockets By Jack Finnsey

941 Words | 4 Pages

For instance, if Tom had never believed he was about to die, he may have never brought himself to notice he had need neglecting his wife for the sake of his job. Unfortunately, many people in the world do not realize that they are making bad decisions since they believe they are doing what is needed. And while sometimes it is easier to notice other people are not treasuring what is truly important, it is not uncommon that people are blinded to their own faults. For instance, sometimes people do not recognize who in their life is hurting them, however, they continue to prioritize the wrong people or things, as did Tom

Read More

Rhetorical Analysis Of Pico Iyer's The Joy Of Quiet

761 Words | 4 Pages

If a person thinks about it, most of the problems people have are the inability to hold back on things, which they regret saying to others or doing to

Read More

Arrogance In To Kill A Mockingbird

887 Words | 4 Pages

However you need to keep in mind that your actions can affect other people, and your actions can affect you. As they say, think before you

Read More

Similarities Between Theseus And The Minotaur

1107 Words | 5 Pages

Everyone has made a decision that maybe wasn’t the best decision or possibly was just a good decision for themselves. Both authors in “Pandora’s Box” and “Theseus and the Minotaur” have main characters that make decisions that affect other people excessively. For example in “Pandora’s Box” when Pandora opens the box she didn’t think about what could happen to anyone else, she was being selfish, however, it had affected many more people than she had imagined. Also, in “Theseus and the Minotaur” when the king sent his son out to kill the monster. He had immediately agreed without thinking of what the consequences may be in the future.

Read More

Lessons From The House In The Cerrulean Sea By Tj Klune

581 Words | 3 Pages

It’s beautiful, when you think about it.” (73) This is an important lesson that giving someone a thing that means nothing to you, can mean the world to

Read More

Why Is It So Important To The Ancient Mariner?

574 Words | 3 Pages

“Instead of the cross, the Albatross - About my neck was hung.” In this section, Coleridge utilises strong religious notions to denote the metaphorical importance of the dead albatross. When one looks deeper into this excerpt and the surrounding stanzas, they can see that there are several connections with tales from the bible, such crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the story of Cain and Abel to the somewhat exile of the Ancient Mariner. There are several instances that do not seem related to the blind eye, but once scrutinized, obviously shared connections. The dead albatross being hung “about his neck” shares great resemblance to the crown of thorns that Jesus was forced to wear as he approached his death.

Read More

Mistakes Were Made Analysis

1096 Words | 5 Pages

The book Mistakes Were Made (but not by me), the authors Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson, include different real-life scenarios where people make dreadful mistakes, but instead of admitting that they are mistaken, they decide to self-justify. Self-justification makes them believe that nothing was done wrong and that the people around them are those to blame. We find it difficult to admit that we’ve committed a fallacy, so instead we cover up our tracks and begin to protect our “innocent” images. It relieves us to feel magnificent about ourselves after feeling some tension.

Read More

Use Of Voice In The Iliad

504 Words | 3 Pages

Book One of the Iliad uses the voice of a muse to aid in telling the story of the hero Achilles. It begins in the midst of the Trojan War, as the Achaeans capture two maidens from a Trojan-allied city- Briseis and Chryseus. Agamemnon, the leader of the Achaean army, and Achilles, the fierce warrior, claims Chryseus and Briseis as their prizes, respectively. Upon her capture, Chryseus’ father Chryses, a priest to the god Apollo, begs Agamemnon for the return of his daughter and offers a great ransom: the scepter of Apollo.

Read More

2nd Stanza Of The Mariner

249 Words | 1 Pages

In the first stanza, the Mariner’s talks about how the “thousand slimy” sea creatures, rather than going more into detail, she refers to them in a broad and ignorant way. Her attitude proves that she knows that they have done bad and still continue to live on with their lives. Although a terrible action occurred, she admires the beauty found through it in the 2nd stanza. The Mariner is now admiring the “rich attire” and colors of their appearances. The significance the dead bodies she is surrounded by conveys that her soul has now lived on to see all these magnificent things.

Read More

Ryme Of The Ancient Mariner

401 Words | 2 Pages

Ryme of the Ancient Mariner This poem really spoke to me. By this, I mean, that I really enjoyed it. I have always been fascinated by old nautical tales and superstition, so the fact that this poem was based around old nautical things made it very interesting to me. One part that stood out to me was the focus on the old nautical story and superstition.

Read More

Examples Of Imagery In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

205 Words | 1 Pages

In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” incredible imagery is used by Samuel Coleridge. Although there are multiple examples of incredible writing through the piece of literature, I will display only a couple of examples of the imagery in this poem. In the story when the mariner and his crew members are stranded on the ocean, Coleridge describes the situation with extreme imagery. He wrote, “water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink”. This creates a visual picture of how desperate the sailors are.

Read More

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Essay

1239 Words | 5 Pages

Romantic poets are widely known for challenging Renaissance era thinking, by focusing heavily on feelings and emotions, rather than on scientific knowledge or thought. Such is the case for the narrative poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Coleridge crafted an epic, narrative style poem, which explains to the reader, a story told from the perspective of an old mariner. The mariner stops a guest at a wedding party and lulls him into a state of almost hypnosis, he then goes on to weave his story. The mariner, while out at sea with his crew, gets caught in a foggy, ice field; an albatross appears in the sky to steer them through the harsh weather.

Read More

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

509 Words | 3 Pages

The first message in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is young versus old. As humans grow older, they start to realise more things. The joys of the world seem to shine a little dimmer because the wonder and awe has left their life. As Coleridge says on page 845, “And now the wedding guest turned from the bridegroom’s door.

Read More

The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Analysis

1191 Words | 5 Pages

In part IV of the poem, the aspect of human guilt is apparent. Coleridge believed that national and collective guilt reflects the immorality of man (ibid). He also experienced personal guilt, which relates him to The Mariner; “Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony” (Coleridge, 2003, p. 215). The Mariner is alone on the ship surrounded by dead people, feeling guilty about shooting the albatross.

Read More

More about Voice In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Related Topics

Open Document