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Unit 3: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge

are natural-their corpses-are occupied by a dominant spirit. Men (like Adam) feel the need Notes
to describe things, and the Mariner feels this need when he suddenly and inexplicably
kills the Albatross, shooting it from the sky as though he needs to bring it into the
definable, physical realm. It is mortal, but closely tied to the metaphysical, spiritual
world-it even flies like a spirit because it is a bird.
The Ancient Mariner notices spirits in their pure form numerous times in the poem. Even
then, they talk and not to him. When the ghost ship carrying Death and Life-in-Death sails
by, the Ancient Mariner overhears them gambling. Then when he lies unconscious on the
deck, he hears the First Voice and Second Voice discussing his fate. When angels appear
over the sailors’ corpses near the shore, they do not talk to the Ancient Mariner, but only
guide his ship. In all these instances, it is unclear whether the spirits are real or figments
of his imagination. The Ancient Mariner-and we the reader-being mortal beings, require
physical affirmation of the spiritual. Coleridge’s spiritual world in the poem balances
between the religious and the purely fantastical. The Ancient Mariner’s prayers do have
an effect, as when he blesses the water-snakes and is relieved of his thirst. At the poem’s
end, he valorises the holy Hermit and the act of praying with others. However, the spirit
that follows the sailors from the “rime”, Death, Life-in-Death, the voices, and the angels,
are not necessarily Christian archetypes. In a move typical of both Romantic writers and
painters, Coleridge locates the spiritual and/or holy in the natural world in order to
emphasize man’s connection to it. Society can distance man from the sublime by
championing worldly pleasures and abandoning reverence for the otherworld. In this
way, the wedding reception represents man’s alienation from the holy - even in a religious
tradition like marriage. However, society can also bring man closer to the sublime, such
as when people gather together in prayer.

Self Assessment

Choose the correct answer:
1. Where does the poem’s initial encounter occur?
(a) In the open air (b) Inside a chapel

(c) At a wedding reception (d) At sea
2. The Wedding Guest is on his way to (do) what?
(a) Divorce proceedings (b) A wedding ceremony

(c) Propose to his beloved (d) A wedding reception
3. What did the sailors do with the Albatross’s corpse?
(a) They ate it

(b) They hung it around the Ancient Mariner’s neck
(c) They hung it from the main mast for good luck
(d) They dropped it into the sea, where it sank like lead

4. What sort of creatures appeared in the water after the Albatross’s death?
(a) Slimy and revolting (b) Beautiful yet frightening
(c) Gorgeous and magical (d) Albatross-like

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