ancient mariner presentation
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Presentation covering the Coleridge epic poem.TRANSCRIPT
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge (21 October
1772 – 25 July 1834) was an English
poet, literary critic and philosopher who,
with his friend William Wordsworth, was a
founder of the Romantic Movement in
England and a member of the Lake
Poets. He is probably best known for his
poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
and Kubla Khan, as well as for his major
prose work Biographia Literaria. His
critical work, especially on Shakespeare,
was highly influential, and he helped
introduce German idealist philosophy to
English-speaking culture..
An Ancient Mariner
stops one (of three)
on his way to a
wedding.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
The wedding
guest is
mesmerized by
the Mariner’s
passion and
begins listening to
the story.
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
“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
Surrounded by
ice.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
An albatross
appears.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
The albatross
leads them out
of the fog.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
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
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
A ghost ship
approaches with
a Specter-
Woman and her
Death-Mate as
crew.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
“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
“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
“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
“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
The curse is lifted
and the albatross
falls from his neck
and sinks “like
lead into the sea.”
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
The dead men
awaken and the
Mariner directs
his ghostly crew
North.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
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
The Mariner’s
ship sinks.
The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner
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
Many critics see the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” as an allegory of some kind of fall,
like…
Of Coleridge -
Of Lucifer - Of Adam & Eve - …forbidden fruit …cast into hell
…opium?
“…the very deep did rot…”
“…slimy things …
Slimy sea”
“I shot the albatross”
“…and I had done a hellish thing…”
“witch‟s oils, / …burnt green, and blue and
white”
Phantasmagoria! A shifting series or succession of things seen or imagined, as in a dream.
STRUCTURE:
Sin, Punishment, Redemption…
Shelley’s Interpretation?
(Frankenstein)
“poetry gives most pleasure when only generally and not perfectly understood"
- Coleridge
Many critics maintain, as Christopher Lamb does, that the „Ancient Mariner‟ is a work of complete
and pure imagination. As…
No single interpretation seems to fit the entire poem…
In essence, it is a very imaginative and unusual piece…
Purely inspirational? Dark gothic?
“cursed me with his eye”
“Life-in-death”
“spectre bark”
Gustav Doré‟s Dark Etches…
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“)
“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