Samuel Taylor Coleridge and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”

Spoiled BoyBorn in 1772Youngest of 14 children, but only four

survivedFather died when he was 9, sent to school in

LondonConsidered a geniusGrew to have lifelong problems

Plagued by problemsCambridge University drop outFailed American intellectual colonyFailed marriageFailed health – asthma and rheumatismDrug addicted – addicted to painkillersFailed friendship – with Wordsworth

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner“a willing suspension of disbelief for the

moment.”Literary ballad

Tells a storyReal and supernatural eventsLots of sound devices

Wrote with Wordsworth and published in Lyrical Ballads

PlotAn old sailor interrupts a wedding to tell a

strange tale from the sea to a wedding guestTale of guilt and penance required for anyone

who sins against nature.Archaic language, set in medieval times.