The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Group

Question:


ohnoashleyyy
Student
High School - 12th Grade

In Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (lines 582-90), what must the Mariner continue to do for the rest of his life?

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Posted by ohnoashleyyy on Sunday October 11, 2009 at 5:11 PM and tagged with literature, samuel taylor coleridge, the rime of the ancient mariner.

Answers:

  1. bullgatortail
    bullgatortail Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the old seaman restrains a guest on the way to a wedding and relates his nautical tale of woe. On a voyage to the Antarctic, the Mariner kills an albatross along the way, and bad luck suddenly falls upon the crew, who forces him to wear the dead bird around his neck as a reminder of his crime. Eventually, the entire crew dies except for the now accursed Mariner; he survives the hard journey, and when the dead albatross falls from his neck, the curse is lifted. However:

    This heart within me burns.
    I pass, like night, from land to land;
    I have strange power of speech;
    That moment that his face I see,
    I know the man that must hear me:
    To him my tale I teach. 

    As penance, the Mariner must roam the earth and tell his story to all who will listen.

    He prayeth best, who loveth best
    All things both great and small;
    For the dear God who loveth us,
    He made and loveth all.

    Failure to make atonement will cause the Mariner unending suffering until he tells the story once again.

    Sources:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner

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    Posted by bullgatortail on Sunday October 11, 2009 at 5:58 PM