Critical Essay
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Thesis: How the violation of nature effect is depicted in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.”
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner poem explores a violation of nature. Besides, it evaluates the resulting psychological effects regarding Mariner a well as those who hear him. Moreover, the poem portrays the setting of the salvation story. The poem dwells more on the transhistorical context, rather than the universal significance. The verbal distinction expressed in the poem depicts the reality of the situations described in the poem. Like other poems, the Rime of the Ancient Mariner is not valued everywhere by every individual in the same manner. On the other hand, this poem can be interpreted as an autobiographical portrait revealing Mariner’s loneliness with Coleridge’s feelings (Coleridge, 677-717). This paper will present a critical analysis of the poem based on different contexts in the poem.
Perhaps uniqueness in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner may not be the strangest element. However, transparency is subjugated in the poem. For instance, the verse “water, water, everywhere” elucidates the ideal condition of the sea. The poem is defined by what it describes itself. For instance, the marginal glosses, an epigraph, and moral at the end suggest ideas of the poem with high clarity that one may try to predict.
Moreover, the poem may also be viewed to have succeeded in teaching the lessons of love for God’s creation, expiation, spirits, and guilt. An oddity is vital in achieving this. Furthermore, the poem applies the novelty of the tale. This makes it possible to recognize and remember the ancient and simple lessons. Although one may be easily carried away by the questions in the poem, it is spiritually satisfying to contemplate the invisible realm, which enhances the revelation of a better and more world. In this regard, one gets a trivial concern of daily lives. The understanding of the poem epigraph enhances more knowledge of the spiritual realm as well as the surrounding the spiritual realm (McElderry, pg68-94). For instance, The Mariner portrays how contempt defies the mysteries of the spiritual world.
Nonetheless, the poem portrays the cumbersome task of producing a supernatural human context, yet another demand to remain as human as possible. In this poem, Coleridge depicts various implausible events through a method of narration. Consequently, this makes them convincing as well as a criticism of life. In the conquest of the unknown, Coleridge thought beyond the common thrills of horror. The peculiar ventures of the Mariner occur on the boundless violation of natural expectations. In this case, his traits are transformed into powers. These powers watch over the good and evil deeds of men. And the powers make them into celebrate or mourn, depending on their deeds. In this regard, the supernatural is given a new identity by the new setting. Rather than confining to phantoms, Coleridge incorporates a broader range of emotions such as suffering, guilt, relief, grief, remorse, and joy. Relating a poem of the supernatural to its familiar experience is the main problem that affects many poets. However, for Coleridge, he was able to relate his theme to something easily understood by his audience, something that could touch their hearts as well as imagine; hence, it is a source of inspiration to the audience. Achieving this was possible by his use of the dreams. The verses, “oh dreams of joy! is this indeed; The light-house top I see,” explain the feelings after the dream. It is inarguable that dreams contain clear quality that may not be encountered in waking impressions. In this regard, dreams can stir the emotions of desire as well as fear. The Ancient Mariner depicts its casual relationship with the events and lives. Therefore, it reveals that Coleridge recognized the impacts of his imagination, which correlates to what he felt about the dreams. When the dreams are exhibited among the audience, there will be no questioning of reality. However, unnatural Coleridge’s events may be, they originated from the natural elements, making it possible for the readers to believe in the events. For instance, the poem places the readers in the imaginary world, but the readers do not feel unreachable. Instead, they respond to it as actual life.
Although Coleridge commences by appealing to the experiences of the readers’ dreams, he takes the opportunity to express more appealing and human dreams. For example, the statements “The moon went up the sky,” “softly; she was going up” (Sikora et al. 258). Furthermore, Coleridge applies the atmosphere of dreams to acquaint his readers to his unique world, thereafter proceeds to create freely within identified limits. His natural background, for example, could be designed by the person experienced in interpreting nature by observation (Sikora et al. pg 268). While all these takes place, the quality of nature is preserved. And its perseverance in its ways sometimes contradicts what takes place on the ship. Nature is so primordial that when it breaks into violent moods, the state reverses, making it more real. In this regard, the poet justifies the imaginative nature of the poem.
In a dream, physical sensations are vital in creating the appeal of the dream and the context of a dream. However, Coleridge elucidates them as though they are waking. Due to the live presentation, Coleridge enhances a powerful emotional effect. It is worth noting that what is true of the physical sensation directly correlates to the mental state. Surrounded by the dead bodies, The Mariner is indeed in the fearful state. This is well revealed in the way he draws attention to his state of solitude and helplessness. One good example in the poem is the verse that commences with “Alone, alone, and all, all alone” (Line 232). The passage describes the anguish of someone feeling abandoned by God as well as man.
Nevertheless, Coleridge describes the emptiness of a tormented as well as a guilty soul. Contrariwise, upon the landing of the ship, The Mariner was relieved, as depicted in the lines 614-617. These lines describe the surrender of the soul to the supernatural being. In this regard, the celestial’s silence turned out to be his joy (Writework, pg. 2-3).
It the entire poem, Coleridge demonstrates the understanding of the boundaries of despair and joy. This is well depicted in the statements: “No voice, but oh! The silence sank. Like music on my heart” (Sikora et al. pg. 258), Coleridge expects that the people or readers would admit that his situations are real and that the same people are expected to show kindness and other human feelings. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner realism exceeds the art of circumstantial details. Indeed the poem elaborates the reflection of his love for the sensible world. Besides, it shows his sensitiveness to its lights, sounds, shades, and colors. In other words, Coleridge possessed the immense cardinal quality of poetry.
Notwithstanding, The Ancient Mariner is dominated by crime and punishment that is divided into seven sections. Despite the imaginative as well as the poetic effect, the emotional impression is the essential aspect of poetry. Coleridge, in his myth, portrays the importance of crime and punishment as far as diversity in literature is concerned. In a nutshell, The Ancient Mariner suggests the prospects and as well as the possibilities beyond the immediate subject. The greatness of this poem cannot be exhausted without mentioning Coleridge’s efforts to apply imagination and how the imaginations became realistic among the readers.
Work Cited
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Blackie, 1999.
McElderry, B. R. “Coleridge’s Revision of” The Ancient Mariner.” Studies in Philology 29.1 (1932): 68-94.
Sikora, Shelley, Don Kuiken, and David S. Miall. “Expressive reading: A phenomenological study of readers’ experience of Coleridge’s The rime of the ancient mariner.” Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 5.3 (2011): 258.
WriteWork contributors. “Critical Analysis of Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 22 November 2006. Web. 11 May. 2020.