Stanza wise summary of the rime of the ancient mariner
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Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement (An artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature. The noted poets were William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Lord Byron, Percy Shelley, William Blake and John Clare) in England and a member of the Lake Poets (The Lake Poets were a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake district of England, United Kingdom, at the turn of the nineteenth century. They are considered part of the Romantic Movement. The three main poets were William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey). Samuel's father was the Reverend John Coleridge the well-respected vicar of St Mary’s church and headmaster of the King’s school.
His famous works are The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Biographia Literaria, or Biographical Sketches of My Literary Life and Opinions, is an autobiography in discourse by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which he published in 1817, in two volumes.
The Rime of Ancient Mariner Summary
The Rime of Ancient Mariner Summary of the Chapter is given below:
A group of wedding guests was on its way to a wedding feast when one of them was stopped by an old sailor. He was eager to tell him his story. The sailor insisted upon it and the guest was forced to stay back and listen to his story.
The mariner began his story that how their ship sailed from the harbour on a happy note. They had a smooth journey for a short period of time after which a storm drove their ship southwards towards snow and mist. The ship got stuck in the lifeless region with huge masses of ice surrounding it. The ice made thunderous sounds as it cracked.
At this point of time an Albatross came flying through the mist. It was treated to be a noble soul, a holy messenger of God. With its arrival the snow cracked and gave way to the ship which once again started sailing.
The holy bird accompanied the ship, and was fed by the crew. A favourable south wind blew which drove the ship out of the cursed land of snow and mist. The sailors thanked the bird as it was a good omen for them.
The wedding guest noticed that the sailor’s face suddenly turned sad. The sailor answered his curiosity that in a spur of the moment, with his crossbow, he had shot the bird dead.
His fellow sails men blamed and cursed him for killing the holy bird but later they felt that he was right in killing the bird which had brought the fog and mist.
For some time, the ship kept on sailing smoothly towards the north. Suddenly, the wind stopped blowing and the ship came to a standstill.
Gradually, their stock of drinking water finished and although there was water all around them, they did not have a single drop to drink. The sea was so quiet that it seemed to rot, and ugly creatures moved on its surface. They felt that the bird’s soul had followed them to take revenge. Their mouths were so dry that they were unable to speak. All the crew stared at the mariner with hatred. They removed the cross which he wore around his neck and hung the dead Albatross in its place to signify his sin and guilt.
The poem is based on the theme of sin and redemption. After the ancient mariner commits a sin by killing the albatross, guilt hounds him in the form of strange natural and supernatural phenomena. During one terrifying experience, he has a change of heart and repents his wrongdoing. He carries out a penance, which is to travel the world to tell his tale to strangers.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Poem Explanation
Part I
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
Ancient: belonging to the olden times
Mariner: sailor
Stoppeth: stopped
Thy: your
Glittering: shining brightly, with flashing points of light
wherefore: why
stopp’st: stopping
thou: you
An old sailor stopped one person out of a group of three. The person said that the sailor had a grey – coloured beard and shining eyes. He asked him that why had he stopped him.
The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
May'st hear the merry din.'
Bridegroom: the boy who is getting married
kin - members of your family
may’st: may
din: sound of the wedding songs
The person was going to a wedding. He said to the sailor that the doors of the bridegroom’s house had been opened which indicated that the ceremony was about to begin. As he was a family member, he was in a hurry. All the guests had already arrived and the dinner had been laid. The wedding music could also be heard.
He holds him with his skinny hand,
"There was a ship," quoth he.
'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!'
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.