Page 61 - DENG203_ELECTIVE_ENGLISH_IV

Elective English—IV

Notes The figurative organisation of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is complex: one speaker makes
judgments like “A sadder and a wiser man / He rose the morrow morn”; the side notes apparently
written by a scholar, are different from this first speaker. The Mariner is independent of these
two voices, and the Mariner’s words make up most of the poem and the Wedding-Guest also
speaks openly. Furthermore, the several time frames combine somewhat intricately. Samuel
makes the poem complicated at the very beginning of Part VI, when he presents a short dramatic
dialogue to show the conversation between the two ghostly voices. This was a unique technique
and influenced later writers, such as Melville, who frequently used dramatic dialogues in his
equally complex story of the sea, Moby-Dick. Here in Samuel’s poem, this dialogue dives the
reader abruptly into the role of the Mariner, listening to the voices around him instead of
merely hearing them described. Confusing techniques like this one are used all through the
Rime of the Ancient Mariner to make certain that the poem doesn’t become very abstract in its
relationship between verse and side notes. So no matter how theoretical the level of the poem’s
operation, its story continues to be convincing.

Notes The Natural World: The Physical
While it can be attractive and scary (often simultaneously), the natural world’s power and
control in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is undeniable. In a move typical of Romantic
poets both preceding and following Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and particularly typical of
his colleague, William Wordsworth, Samuel highlights the way in which the natural
world dwarfs and asserts its overwhelming power over man. Specifically in the 1817 text,
in which Samuel includes marginal glosses, it is clear that the spiritual world controls and
utilizes the natural world. Sometimes the natural world seems to be a character itself,
based on the way it interacts with the Ancient Mariner. From the instant The Mariner
offends the spirit of the “rime,” retribution comes in the form of natural phenomena. The
wind dies, the sun strengthens, and it will not rain. The ocean becomes revolting, “rotting”
and thrashing with “slimy” creatures and burning with strange fires. Only when the
Ancient Mariner states love for the natural world-the water-snakes-does his punishment
abate even slightly. It rains, but the storm is unusually awesome, with a thick stream of
fire pouring from one huge cloud. A spirit, whether God or a pagan one, dominates the
physical world in order to punish and inspire reverence in the Mariner. At the end, the
Mariner speaks respect for the natural world as a way to remain in good standing with the
spiritual world, because in order to respect Divinity, one must respect all of his makings.
This is why he valorises the Hermit, who sets the example of both prayer and living in
harmony with nature. In his final advice to the Wedding Guest, the Mariner confirms that
one can access the sublime, “the image of a greater and better world,” only by seeing the
value of the mundane, “the petty things of daily life.”
The Spiritual World: The Metaphysical
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” occurs in the natural, physical world-the ocean and the
land. Though, the work has commonly been interpreted as an allegory of man’s association
with the spiritual, metaphysical world. In the epigraph, Burnet speaks of man’s wish to
“classify” things since Adam named the animals. The Mariner shoots the Albatross as if to
prove that it is not an airy spirit, but rather a mortal creature; in a symbolic way, he tries
to “classify” the Albatross. Like all natural things, the Albatross is closely tied to the
spiritual world, and thus begins the Mariner’s penalty by the spiritual world by means of
the natural world. Rather than addressing him directly; the mystical communicates through
the natural. The sun, ocean and lack of rain and wind punish the Mariner and other sailors.
When the dead men come alive to curse the Ancient Mariner with their eyes, things that
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