Role of supernatural elements in the rime of the ancient mariner
Answers
There is a variety of supernatural elements or parts that are suggestive of supernatural factors throughout the poem. The ancient mariner is narrating the journey he had on the boat, and there are ups and downs throughout his trip. Such ups and downs are effectively emphasized by the narrator’s portraying them in supernatural manner or incorporating magical elements while describing them.
The first supernatural moment I encountered in the narrative is the part where the old mariner talks to the stranger in the wedding. The stranger at first seems quite hesitant to listen to the mariner’s story and even tells the mariner to go away as it is portrayed in the poem “Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!’. Yet, as the mariner keeps staring at the stranger with the somehow captivating “glittering eyes”, the stranger stands still and starts listening to him as though he were spellbound by the mariner’s magic. It is described in the poem as “The Wedding-Guest stood still, and listens like a three years’ child.” A cause that drove the stranger to make such a dramatic change in mind in just a second is seen as supernatural to the reader. This magical moment is significant in a way that it gives the reader a sense that there is something special and captivating about the mariner. He is just introduced in a poem, and the majority of the rather inattentive readers might simply dismiss the mariner as a uninvited guest who ruins the mood of the wedding. Yet, his persuading the stranger to listen to him shows there is something worthy of listening to the ancient mariner’s story. Another effect this supernatural moment brings about is helping the readers to focus on what the mariner is about to say. It gives mariner an authority as a narrator of the poem.