Justify the title The rime of the ancient mariner
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'The rime of the ancient mariner' deals with the story of a mariner who did something terrible and was destined to atone for it throughout the rest of his life.
The mariner stops a wedding guest who is on his way to his wedding and proceeds to tell his story in spite of the protests of the wedding guest. The intense eyes of the mariner holds him captive and in spite of himself, the wedding guest is forced to listen to the eventful story of the mariner's sailing adventure.
Killing of a harmless albatross by the mariner had brought immense tragedy to the ship and its crew. But the sinner himself was spared and was cursed to live on with unbearable guilt. He goes around telling the story of his despicable deed.
So the poem is aptly titled as it deals with the poignant story of the old mariner.
The mariner stops a wedding guest who is on his way to his wedding and proceeds to tell his story in spite of the protests of the wedding guest. The intense eyes of the mariner holds him captive and in spite of himself, the wedding guest is forced to listen to the eventful story of the mariner's sailing adventure.
Killing of a harmless albatross by the mariner had brought immense tragedy to the ship and its crew. But the sinner himself was spared and was cursed to live on with unbearable guilt. He goes around telling the story of his despicable deed.
So the poem is aptly titled as it deals with the poignant story of the old mariner.
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'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is a famous ballad written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The title of the poem on a broader perspective is self explanatory as it describes the travails of a mariner of yore on the high seas.
However, there is an undrlying current in his usage of 'rime' which has been used as a pun with 'rhyme' - the two words having similar sound but are distinctly different in meaning yet with great relevance to their implication in the poem. Rhyme relates to rhyming verses, the style of the narrative used by Coleridge using personification, alliteration and repetitions, to make the rhyming more impactful in portyraying various moods at various points as the story progresses. For example, the utter helplessness becomes poignant when the poet writes,
"Water water everywhere
And all the boards did shrink,
Water water everywhere
Not a drop to drink''.
'Rime' on the other hand means frost, which forms on cold objects by the rapid freezing of water vapour in cloud or fog. Coleridge's poem is mostly set in the Arctic polar region, "land of ice and snow" and one could thus find huge quantities of 'rime' collecting on the windy side of the sails in such climatic conditions.
There is an element of symbolism in describing the mariner's "hoary" beard. His life too had been covered with a layer of 'rime', until he became successful in his penance of showing mercy towards other creatures. Only then did the albatross fall off his neck and he was set free.
Lastly, the mariner is from ancient times and hence very old and an Ancient Mariner.
However, there is an undrlying current in his usage of 'rime' which has been used as a pun with 'rhyme' - the two words having similar sound but are distinctly different in meaning yet with great relevance to their implication in the poem. Rhyme relates to rhyming verses, the style of the narrative used by Coleridge using personification, alliteration and repetitions, to make the rhyming more impactful in portyraying various moods at various points as the story progresses. For example, the utter helplessness becomes poignant when the poet writes,
"Water water everywhere
And all the boards did shrink,
Water water everywhere
Not a drop to drink''.
'Rime' on the other hand means frost, which forms on cold objects by the rapid freezing of water vapour in cloud or fog. Coleridge's poem is mostly set in the Arctic polar region, "land of ice and snow" and one could thus find huge quantities of 'rime' collecting on the windy side of the sails in such climatic conditions.
There is an element of symbolism in describing the mariner's "hoary" beard. His life too had been covered with a layer of 'rime', until he became successful in his penance of showing mercy towards other creatures. Only then did the albatross fall off his neck and he was set free.
Lastly, the mariner is from ancient times and hence very old and an Ancient Mariner.
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