The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem written in 1797–98 and published
in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. It has seven parts.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long
sea voyage. The narrates a story to the wedding-guest. The wedding guest’s reaction turns from
bemusement to impatience to fear to fascination. Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as
personification and repetition to create a sense of danger, the supernatural, or serenity, depending
on the mood in seven parts of the poem.

“The Rime of Ancient Mariner” is about the guilt and expiation of the Ancient Mariner. The
theme of poem is that People should honour and respect all living things.

Characters
Ancient Mariner – protagonist. He sets sail from his native country with two hundred other men

Wedding Guest – One of three people on their way to a wedding reception, a next of kin to the
bridegroom. After he hears the Ancient Mariner’s story, he becomes both “sadder and…wiser.”

The Sailors – Two hundred seamen

Albatross – white sea bird that saves the sailors from the icy world of the “rime”. It flies
alongside the ship, plays with the sailors, and eats their food, until the Ancient Mariner shoots it
with his crossbow. Its corpse is hung around the Ancient Mariner’s neck as a reminder of his
crime and falls off only when he is able to appreciate the beauty of nature and pray once more.

Death – He loses at dice to Life-in-Death, gets to claim the Ancient Mariner’s soul; instead,
Death wins the two hundred sailors.

The Night-mare Life-in-Death – a beautiful, naked, ghostly woman with golden hair and red
lips. She wins at dice over Death and gets to claim the Ancient Mariner’s soul, condemning him
to a limbo-like living death.

Pilot – The captain of the small boat that rows out to the Ancient Mariner’s ship.

Pilot’s Boy – The assistant to the Pilot

Hermit – A recluse who prays three times a day and lives in communion with nature in the
woods. He accompanies the Pilot and the Pilot’s boy on the small boat. The Ancient Mariner
reveres the Hermit as a righteous and holy man, and asks him to absolve him of his sin. The
Hermit is the first person to whom the Ancient Mariner is compelled to tell his tale.

First Voice – One of two voices presumably belonging to a spirit.

Second Voice – The Second Voice is softer than the First Voice-“as soft as honey-dew”-and
more knowledgeable.
Summary
An Ancient Mariner stops a Wedding Guest who is on his way to a wedding reception with two
companions. Ancient Mariner compels him to sit and listen to his woeful tale. The Ancient Mariner
tells his tale. The Ancient Mariner when he was younger, set sail with two hundred other sailors
from his native land. The ship reached the equator. Suddenly, a terrible storm hit and drove the
ship southwards into a “rime” – a strange, icy patch of ocean. The towering, echoing “rime” was
bewildering and impenetrable, and also desolate until an Albatross appeared out of the mist. As
long as the Albatross flew alongside the ship and the sailors treated it kindly, a good wind carried
them and a mist followed. One day the Ancient Mariner shot and killed the Albatross on impulse.

Suddenly the wind and mist ceased, and the ship was stagnant on the ocean. The other sailors
blamed the Ancient Mariner for making the wind die and praised him for making the strange mist
disappear. There was no drinkable water amidst the salty ocean. The sailors went dumb from their
thirst and sunburned lips. They hung the Albatross around the Ancient Mariner’s neck as a symbol
of his sin. The ship is becalmed and the crew dies of thirst.. The Ancient Mariner bit his arm and
sucked the blood so he could cry out to the other sailors. The Ancient Mariner see a ghost ship
manned by Death, in the form of a man, and Life-in-Death, in the form of a beautiful, naked
woman. They were gambling for the Ancient Mariner’s soul. Life-in-Death won the Ancient
Mariner’s soul, and the other sailors were left to Death.

One night he noticed some beautiful water-snakes frolicking at the ship’s prow in the icy
moonlight. The Albatross fell from his neck and sank into the sea. He sleep and dreamed of water.
It was raining and an awesome thunderstorm when he awoke. He drank his fill, and the ship began
to sail in lieu of wind. Then the dead sailors suddenly arose and sailed the ship without speaking.
They sang heavenly music. Once the ship reached the equator again, the ship jolted, and the
Ancient Mariner fall unconscious.

The Ancient Mariner was overjoyed to see a Pilot, his boy, and a Hermit rowing a small boat out
to the ship. He planned to ask the Hermit to absolve him of his sin. The boat sank suddenly and
created a vortex in the water. The rescuers were able to pull the Ancient Mariner from the water,
but thought he was dead. The Pilot and Pilot’s Boy lost their minds. The spooked Hermit asked
the Ancient Mariner what kind of man he was. After he related his tale to the Hermit, he felt normal
again.

The Ancient Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that any merriment is the company of others in
prayer. He says that the best way to become close with God is to respect all of His creatures,
because He loves them all. He awakes the next day “sadder and…wiser” for having heard the
Ancient Mariner’s tale.

Previous year question paper from Coleridge and “The Rime of Ancient
Mariner”

“The Rime of Ancient Mariner” is about

(A) a perilous adventure in the sea
(B) the accidental killing of an octopus
(C) the curse of a sea God

(D) the guilt and expiation of the Ancient Mariner

2. Which statement best expresses the theme of Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner?

(1) To kill a living creature is immoral.

(2) People should honour and respect all living things.

(3) Prayer can accomplish miracles.

(4) True harmony is achieved only through cooperative effort.

3. Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a poem in _________

(A) 8 parts (B) 9 parts (C) 7 parts (D) 6 parts

4. In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” what disaster befalls the ship and the crew?

(A) The ship is caught in ice and breaks into pieces.

(B) A fierce storm batters the ship and drowns the crew.

(C) “Slimy things with legs” attack the ship and kill many of the crew.

(D) The ship is becalmed and the crew dies of thirst.

5. Who among the following Romantic poets ended his life, lauded and respected as ‘The
Sage of High gate’?

(A) William Blake (B) S.T. Coleridge (C) P.B. Shelley (D) William Wordsworth

6. In his 1817 review of Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, Francis Jeffrey grouped the
following poets together as the ‘Lake School of Poets’:

(A) Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge

(B) Wordsworth, Byron and Coleridge

(C) Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge

(D) Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey

William Wordsworth was born on 7 April 1770 in Wordsworth House in Cockermouth,

Cumberland —part of the scenic region in northwest England, the Lake District.
1. In which year Coleridge met poet William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy which later
contributed Romantic movement to the English Literature?

Ans. 1795

2. With which famous writer Coleridge became friends with in Christ's Hospital, also called The
Bluecoat School?
Ans. Charles Lamb
3. What is the name of the short-lived journal that Coleridge established?
Ans. The Watchman

4. With which other poet did Samuel Taylor Coleridge founded the Romantic movement in
English Literature?
Ans. William Wordsworth

5. In which work Samuel Taylor Coleridge introduced the term 'willing suspension of disbelief' in
1817?
Ans. Biographia Literaria

6. When did Samuel Taylor Coleridge die?

Ans. 25 July 1834

7. Who is the American transcendental philosopher who was much influenced by Samuel Taylor
Coleridge?
Ans. Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. Which one is the famous prose work of Samuel Taylor Coleridge?
Ans. Biographia Literaria

9. The ode on which topic that Coleridge wrote while attending Jesus College, Cambridge won
him the Browne Gold Medal?
Ans. On the slave trade
10. When was Samuel Taylor Coleridge born?
Ans. October 21, 1772

11. In which establishment Coleridge enlisted himself in December 1793 by using the false name
"Silas Tomkyn Comberbache"?
Ans. Royal Dragoons
The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a mounted infantry regiment of the British Army. The
regiment was formed in 1661, and served until 1969, when it was amalgamated with the Royal
Horse Guards to form The Blues and Royals.