The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a ballad told in seven parts that describes the consequences of committing a sin. The Mariner kills an albatross, a spiritual symbol, which causes his shipmates to blame him for stranding them. He is forced to wear the dead albatross around his neck as a sign of his guilt. Over time, nature's beauty allows him to find redemption, but he is still haunted and isolated. The poem follows his journey of penance as he is eventually freed after confessing his sins to a hermit.

1. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
• 1798
• The consequences of sin
• Guilt
• The horror of isolation

2. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• Lyrical Ballad
• Ballad – narrative poem
• Intense descriptions
• Emotional Force
• Rhyming

3. Part 1
• The wedding guest is under the “spell” of The
Mariner’s “glittering eye”
• The Albatross is a spiritual symbol – God and
nature – white bird like a dove (Holy Spirit)
• Romantics believed God and nature were one
• Verses 41-44 - “Storm…tyrannous and strong”
– personification
• “wings…chased us” - metaphor

4. Part I continued
• Verse 81 – “Why look’st thou so? – tone
change
• The Mariner kills the good bird with his cross
bow

5. Part 2
• The shipmates blame the Mariner for killing the
Albatross then take it back – they become
accomplices to the killing
• Verses 103-106 – “furrow, followed free” –
Alliteration
• The shipmates blame the Mariner for killing the
Albatross – they believe that killing the bird has
caused them to be stranded and evil around
them
• “Instead of the cross” hang Albatross around his
neck – symbolism – sin and guilt

6. Part 3
• “Death Ship” – metaphor
• Verses 190 – 194 - “Her lips were red…”
personification of death – a woman
• Verses 195 – 198 - Game of dice “I’ve won” game
of “chance” – fate/life
• Darkness = death
• Verse 215 – “cursed me with his eye” –
symbolism
• Souls passed him like his “crossbow” – how he
killed the Albatross

7. Part 4
• Verses 232 – 235 – “Alone, alone, all alone…”
– repetition – he is isolated
• “My heart as dry as dust” – he is alive but his
soul is dead– symbolism
• Although the men are dead they curse him
with their eyes (souls)
• “Seven days, seven nights…” – biblical number
• Verse 263 – “The moving Moon…” –
alliteration also brings a change in tone

8. Part 4
• Verses 263 – 287
• “Softly she was going up…”
• “…beams bemocked…”
• “…the water snakes… shining white… elfish light”
• “I watched their rich attire:/Blue, glossy green
and velvet black….flash of golden fire”
• The beauty of nature has saved him, he can pray
and is alive
• The Albatross falls off – his guilt/sin is released
into the sea

9. Part 5
• Mary – Holy Mother – brings sleep and rain
• Rain – water = rebirth – symbolism
• Mariner dies in his sleep and comes back a
blessed ghost
• The dead rise and steer the ship without any
wind
• They are angels – “angels song”
• “dawned…dropped” “Sweet sounds” - alliteration

10. Part 5
• The Polar Spirit carries the ship as the angels
command but he still wants vengeance
• The Polar Spirit takes the ship to the line. He
and his demons shake the ship. The Mariner
is struck and is unconscious.
• The Mariner’s penance is not over

11. Part 6
• When the Mariner is in a trance the ship
moves with super natural power
• When he is awake serves his penance and the
dead men continue to curse him
• Verse 446 – “…on a lonesome road…” –
symbolism – life , isolation
• Verse 472 “… clear as glass…” – simile –
change in tone – light images
• Angels are light

12. Part 7
• The Hermit – hermits live in the woods away from
people
• He Hermit encourages the pilot to push forward and
rescue the Mariner
• The appearance of the Mariner – “The Devil knows
how to row.”
• Mariner asks Hermit to shrieve ( hear penance, absolve
someone’s sins)- transforms him into a priest
• Once he tells his story (sin) he is free
• His penance is to retell his story