Leah Magidson and Lindsay Peichel Part 4 Leah Magidson and Lindsay Peichel
Stanzas 1 & 2 (The wedding guest feareth that a spirit is talking to him) I fear thee, ancient Mariner! I fear thy skinny hand! And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribbed sea-sand. I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand, so brown.'--- Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest! This body dropt not down. Wedding Guest: "I fear t..." is an example of anaphora. - "long, and lank, and brown" is polysinitism, but also shows the wedding guest's fear of the strange, supernatural, and class below him. - Simile Ancient Mariner - "This body dropt not down" The Ancient Mariner senses the boys fear, but interprets it selfishly as if the boy was scared for the man's life. Even though it is absurdity of the story and the teller that he is reacting to.
Stanzas 3 & 4 Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. The many men, so beautiful! And they all dead did lie: And a thousand thousand slimy things Lived on; and so did I. *Why is he the only one who hasn't died? * Repetition of the words 'alone' and 'wide'--- emphasis on hopelessness *Alliteration--- 'Alone...all alone' * Agony: tone word *Juxtaposition--- 'beautiful' and 'dead'--- suggests the Mariner's shame and guilt * Repitition of 'thousand'--- refers to a sense of suffering *Comparison between the ancient mariner and 'slimy things' in the sea
Stanzas 5 & 6 I looked upon the rotting sea, And drew my eyes away; I looked upon the rotting deck, And there the dead men lay. I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; But or ever a prayer had gusht, A wicked whisper came, and made My heart as dry as dust. " I looked"- Anaphora. Shows the overwhelmness of his situation. Trying to distract himself from what is below him; the dead men. - Wicked Whisper is alliteration. But the questions comes to mind, who is the one whispering? a. himself b. The Albatross c. Satan's whore d. The devil e. God - Simile/ Cliche " made my heart as dry as dust" If the heart, the symbolic key to the self is lifeless than the rest of the self is useless.
Stanzas 7 & 8 I closed my lids, and kept them close, And the balls like pulses beat; For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky Lay dead like a load on my weary eye, And the dead were at my feet. The cold sweat melted from their limbs, Nor rot nor reek did they: The look with which they looked on me Had never passed away. * 5-line stanza: abccb * Simile: compares his eyes to a bodily function, shows a lack of control? *Unable to shut out images of the dead * Tone word: 'weary' a. Still weary from part 2 and 3. *Suggests a curse * The dead men are stagnant, as is the Mariner stuck alive in the sea * Rhyme: 'they' and 'away'
Stanza 9 An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But oh! more horrible than that Is the curse in a dead man's eye! Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, And yet I could not die. - irregular stanza of 6 lines instead of four. - the comparison of orphan vs. the dead's curses. a. which is worse? b. The deprived but living, or the ones that are dead from someone elsewrong doing - The mention of the seven days and nights has shown the passage of time; a week.
Stanzas 10 & 11 The moving Moon went up the sky, And no where did abide: Softly she was going up, And a star or two beside— Her beams bemocked the sultry main, Like April hoar-frost spread; But where the ship's huge shadow lay, The charmèd water burnt alway A still and awful red. - ' Moving Moon' is alliteration - The moon is also personified, possible signs of longing for a companion or something that isn't dead. - The moving of the moon, the Mariner's light, also shows the passage of time. *5-line stanza: abccb *nature vs. the ship *The moon mocked the oppressive sea---Does the moon spring up hope? * 'water' & 'burnt' *hoar frost---Ice that freezes at a lower temperature than the air surrounding it *'huge' ship casts a dark shadow upon the water---refers to curse on ship * Tone word: 'awful'
Stanzas 12 & 13 Beyond the shadow of the ship, I watched the water-snakes: They moved in tracks of shining white, And when they reared, the elfish light Fell off in hoary flakes. Within the shadow of the ship I watched their rich attire: Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, They coiled and swam; and every track Was a flash of golden fire. *5-line stanza: abccb *perceptive of nature--- no clear tone word here, suggests the beginning of a transition * Imagery - Sudden tone shift a. ' Beyond the shadows of the shift' to ' they moved in tracks of white.' i. Also a contrast of light/ darkness. *Gold, Blue, Glossy Green, Velvet Black--- creates a pleasant image Gloss: (By the light of the Moon be beholdeth God's creatures of the great calm)
Stanzas 14 & 15 - Drastic tone change. O happy living things! no tongue Their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessèd them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware. The self-same moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea. Corresponding gloss: The spell begins to break. - Drastic tone change. Gloss: (Their beauty and their happiness) a. Shows his possible mental instability i. Slimy creatures he was first curious about turn into something he loves. Gloss: (He blesseth them in his heart) - Repetition of ' I blessed them', probably the re-realization of God/ religion. * Symbolism: The Albatross falling from the Mariner's neck suggests the curse breaking--- he is able to pray, uses the word 'free'. * Comparison: 'Like lead'--- Suggests the Albatross is a burden removed * Gives credit to Mr. Wordsworth for helping him with the last two lines in the stanza.
Overview Part IV represents a stage of hopelessness, which is overcome with the Mariner's ability to love the only other living presence-- the slimy sea creatures. Samuel T. Coleridge utilizes a variety of poetic devices including gothic imagery, sudden tone changes, alliteration, symbolism, various rhyme structures, and juxtaposition to create a vessel into which readers can comprehend the Mariner's mental position. Part IV contains a turning point for the Mariner's fate-- the curse of the Albatross is removed as the Mariner is able to see beauty in what could be considered 'ugly' nature. The poem in entity travels through many stages of one man's being as he pays physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual consequences for his actions. The overall message is one of hope, as he is forgiven by Power's that accumulate to his survival and reparation. Part IV reveals the first stage of forgiveness when the Mariner is able to pray, and the Albatross's burden on the man is relieved. This foreshadows an upturn in events in the following sections of the poem.