Danielle, Phillip, Casey, and Erik

Autobiography Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born in 1772 in Devon, England. Coleridge was a founder of the English Romantic Movement. He is best known for "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan“. taylor-coleridge

Historical Background on the English Romantic Movement In the 18 th century, the Romantic Movement in flourished in the first half of the 19 th century. This was part of the rebellion movement against the Enlightenment of the previous century; it was focus on scientific and rational thought. Nationalism was an important factor in the Romantic movement. Romantic literature is characterized by an emphasis on emotion, passion, and the natural world. and many authors turned to folk tales and native mythologies as source material. Romanticism, in literature, found criticism of the past, that with the "sensibility" with its emphasis on women and children, and narrator of certain stories that were told in that time period.

Summary: Part I Three guys are on their way to a wedding ceremony but one of them (the Wedding Guest) is stopped by an old sailor (the Mariner). The sailor then uses his hypnotic eyes to grab the Wedding Guest attention and tells the story that he took while at sea in the Arctic. The Guest really wanted to go to the Wedding but was spellbound to break away from the sailor and his story.

Part II The sailor then starts to go in depth with his story. He starts explaining how his voyage starts to take a turn for the worst (recalling the weather conditions). Then, he recalls see a big bird (the Albatross) and starts to follow it to wherever it flew to. Eventually, the Mariner knew that the Albatross flew them to nowhere and ends up killing the bird with his crossbow. The sailors were mad about killing the bird because the weather started to change in a negative way.

Part III The sailors dreamed that a spirit had followed them under the ship from an unknown land of mist and snow. The sailors start to question and blame the Mariner for killing the Albatross. Time has passed and the sailors were quenched of thirst so bad that none of them could say anything. However, the Mariner saw a figure upon a horizon which turned out to be a ship coming their way. In order to get the other sailors’ attention, the Mariner bit his own arm, drank and swallow his own blood to moisten his mouth, and cried out, “A sail! A sail!” The sailors were happy, believed to be saved.

Part IV As the unknown sail grew closer, the Mariner and his sailors soon realized that the sail turned out to be spooky ship containing two unknown figures: the Death and the Night-mare Life-in-Death. The figure takes on the shape of an pale woman with gold hair and red lips. Death and Life-in-Death then throws dice, won, and whistled three wishes. She caused the sun to go down the horizon and night instantly came. When night finally came, and the stars appeared, the sailors died one after another, except for the Mariner, who each sailor had cursed “with his eye” before dying. Then, all the dead sailors’ souls left their bodies and rushed toward the Mariner.

Part V So the Mariner continues to tell his tale to the Wedding Guest. He said that since he was freed from the curse of the Albatross, he was able to sleep. However, while the rain suddenly came, it poured down on him. The Wedding Guest already said that he’s afraid of the Mariner because of what he did and Guest declared that he’s afraid of the Mariner again, but the Mariner tells the Guest that the men’s bodies were controlled by good spirits, not evil ones. The spirits then start singing and flying around the ship. The ship kept advancing till noon, then stopped and start to move backward and forward. It eventually broke free and the Mariner fell to the deck of the ship with the rush of adrenaline. He suddenly hears two voices asking him questions: one asked if he was the one who killed the Albatross and other had he done self-punishment for what he done and would he self-punishment before all was right again.

Part VI As the Mariner talked to the two spirits, the spirits discussed the situation the Mariner was in. They said that the moon had overpowered the sea and enabled his ship to move. The ship was moved by a heavenly phenomenon and moved the ship north at an particularly fast speed. When the Mariner was freed from the spirits’ trance, he suddenly saw the dead men standing side by side, staring at him. However, a mysterious wind picked up and turned the ship back to the Mariner’s home in a native country. While destructive waves got to the Mariner, he noticed sounds from a Pilot, the Pilot’s son, and forest loving man who is called the Hermit. The Mariner had hoped that the Hermit could help him wash away the sins he done and the blood of the Albatross off his soul.

Part VII The Hermit had told the Pilot and his son to not be afraid and told them to row out to the Mariner’s ship. However, when they reached his ship, it sank in a sudden whirlpool, leaving the Mariner in the middle of the sea. The Pilot and his got to the Mariner and loaded him on the Pilot’s ship, while the son laughed crazily declared the Mariner as “the devil who knows how to row.” When they got to land, the Mariner had begged the Hermit to cleanse him and the Hermit told the Mariner to retell his story to someone else. It was also said that if the Mariner told his story again, then his guilt will vanish. However, the guilt would come back from time to time until he traveled and retold his tale. Therefore, he had to retell his story but relate his story to a deserved crowd of people (i.e. the Wedding Guest). After all that, the Mariner finally says that he is a better person, leading a happier life, and leaves. However, the Wedding Guest, unfortunately, becomes a sadder but wiser person.

Tone, Shift, Theme The tone of the Mariner is that he’s very solemn, dark, mysterious. Examples include when the Mariner killed the Albatross and the weather started to change (destructive waves, damaging winds, misty fog, etc.) The shift in the story started out as peaceful as the three guys (including the Wedding Guest) were going to a wedding ceremony. Later, it changes to a indistinct or vague type of setting because of the Mariner’s story. Then, at the end, it turn to be a déjà vu kind of shift because in the beginning the Mariner was depressing and gloomy, then in the end, he was a happier person. Whereas the Wedding Guest, he was happy in the beginning, but after hearing the Mariner tell his story, Guest is a sadder but wiser person. The theme of the story is that the Mariner has been suffering through being isolated at sea for a long period of time. Also, he has been through many struggles and telling his story wouldn’t help with his problem of leading a better, happier life. However, having retold his tale, he finally found composure and closing in his life.

Figurative Language and Poetic Devices Imagery – the Albatross symbolizes shame and guilt. Examples: After the Mariner killed it, the sailors on the ship died and the Mariner must suffer for what he did. The poem itself is an allegory. It’s an allegory because it was complicated and was difficult to read. Also, of the use of words and not keeping with Romanticism.

Conclusion The conclusion of this poem is that a thoughtless deed results in a lifetime of guilt and repentance. This is evident in the Mariner's strange urge to narrate the story to a spectator, reader, or listener. Sometimes, a seemingless simple mistake can result in a lifetime suffering, which might not relate to the wrong that was committed. The poet wishes to emphasize the importance of coexistence between man and animal. They need each other and must help each other.

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