The 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' recounts the tale of a mariner who stops a wedding guest to share his harrowing story of survival after killing an albatross, which brings misfortune to his ship. As the tale unfolds, the mariner learns to appreciate nature, endures a curse with his crew, and ultimately seeks redemption through his experience. The poem explores themes of crime, punishment, and the relationship between humanity and nature, structured in seven parts with a distinctive rhyme scheme.

1. The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

2. An Ancient Mariner
stops one (of three)
on his way to a
wedding.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

3. “The ice was here,
the ice was there,
The ice was all
around: It cracked
and growled, and
roared and
howled, Like
noises in a
swound!”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

4. The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
The wedding
guest is
mesmerized by
the Mariner’s
passion and
begins listening to
the story.

5. The Mariner’s Tale:
Their ship is driven
south, by a storm, to
a place of “mist and
snow.”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

6. Surrounded by
ice.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

7. An albatross
appears.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

8. The albatross
leads them out
of the fog.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

9. The Mariner shoots the
albatross. At first the
crew condemns him, but
when a favorable breeze
appears, they justify his
action. This implicates
them in his crime.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

10.  Later, the wind stops and
the ship is stranded for
days, “As idle as a painted
ship upon a painted ocean.”
 “Water, water, every where,
and all the boards did
shrink; Water, water, every
where, nor any drop to
drink.”
 The crew blames the
Mariner for no wind and
hangs the albatross around
his neck as punishment.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

11. A ghost ship
approaches with
a Specter-
Woman and her
Death-Mate as
crew.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

12. “Death” and “Life
in Death” roll dice
for the lives of
the ship’s crew.
“Life in Death”
wins.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

13. “Each turned his face
with a ghastly pang, and
cursed me with his eye”
“With heavy thump, a
lifeless lump, they
dropped down one by
one.”
“The souls did from their
bodies fly, - They fled to
bliss or woe! And every
soul, it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my
cross-bow!”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

14. “Alone, alone, all,
all alone, alone on a
wide wide sea! And
never a saint took
pity on my soul in
agony.”
“Seven days, seven
nights, I saw that
curse, and yet I
could not die.”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

15. “Beyond the shadow
of the ship, I
watched the water-
snakes”
“O happy living
things! No tongue
their beauty might
declare: A spring of
love gushed from
my heart, and I
blessed them
unaware”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

16. The curse is lifted
and the albatross
falls from his neck
and sinks “like
lead into the sea.”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

17. The dead men
awaken and the
Mariner directs
his ghostly crew
North.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

18. As the Mariner returns
to his home port, the
spirits of his crew leave
their bodies.
He receives forgiveness
(shrieve) from a hermit.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

19. The Mariner’s
ship sinks.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

20. The story
concluded, the
wedding guest
leaves “a sadder
and a wiser
man.”
The Mariner
must tell his tale
to warn others
(redemption).
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner

22. Symbols
• The albatross symbolizes nature.
• The Mariner kills the albatross for
no apparent reason.
• Most species of albatrosses wander the
southern seas, drinking sea water and
feeding on squid, cuttlefish, and other small
sea creatures.
• Sometimes, they follow ships to feed on their
scraps.
• An old superstition says killing an albatross
brings bad luck, although sailors have been
known to kill and eat them.

23. Ancient Mariner
Major Character ChangeMajor Character Change
Initially, the mariner does not
appreciate nature. He is not in
harmony with nature.
The mariner needlessly kills the
albatross. He must then wear the
dead bird around his neck.
Once he begins to appreciate
nature, the curse is broken and he
is able to pray again.

24. Themes
 Crime & Punishment
 Penance & Forgiveness
 Divine Intervention
 Creating a Harmony
Between Humanity & Nature

25. Structure & RhymeStructure & Rhyme
Coleridge divides the poem into seven parts.
Most of the stanzas in the poem have four
lines; several have five or six lines.
In the four-line stanzas, the second and fourth
lines usually rhyme.
The sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.

26. Conflicts
Individual vs. self
Individual vs. individual
Individual vs. society
Individual vs. nature
Individual vs. God
(supernatural)

27. Coleridge felt a deep sense of sin,
for his opium addiction.
The poem could be his way of fathoming his
feelings.
The “strange power” of the Ancient Mariner, as his difficult feelings.
“mingled strangely with my fears”
“I know that man … must hear me” / “To him my tale I teach”
Hence, his sensitivity and saying that the poem
should not be analyzed?
(“poetry gives most pleasure when only
generally and not perfectly understood“)

28. “Instead of the cross, the Albatross/
About my neck was hung”
“I had killed the bird / That made
the breeze to blow”
“Hailed it in God’s name”
“Christian soul”
“Crimson red like Gods own head”
- “Hid in mist”
- “dungeon-grate” “blessed them
unawares”
Crew
distanced
from God

29. Vs.
Some critics maintain that this ballad was an
exploration, by Coleridge, into the science vs.
spirituality debate:
There are many mysterious fantastical images,
 the “glittering eye” with its “strange power…”
 the “polar spirits” and “seraph band…”
The Latin preface says, “Human cleverness has
always sought knowledge of these things, never
attained it.”
He was at a point in his life where he was more concerned
with the rational than the empirical, this poem was an
exploration of the former.

31. Thanks For Watching…