illustration of the Ancient Mariner in the ocean with an albatross tied around his neck

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Start Free Trial

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Questions and Answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Study Tools

Ask a question Start an essay

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Death and Life-in-Death are allegorical figures who represent the potential fates of the men on board the ship. Death represents the straightforward physical termination of life, while Life-in-Death...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge employs various literary devices, including personification, paradoxical imagery, symbolism, and narrative techniques. Personification is...

16 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is rich with Romantic characteristics, including a deep respect for nature, the supernatural, and the elevation of the common man. The...

34 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Willing suspension of disbelief in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" allows readers to accept fantastical elements, crucial for understanding its Romantic themes. Coleridge's use of supernatural...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The water snakes symbolize the beauty and blessedness of nature and of God's creation. The moment the Mariner is able to respond to them with love and bless them, he is released from his curse.

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The title "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" signifies the mariner's tale, with "rime" being an archaic spelling of "rhyme," emphasizing the poem's ancient and timeless quality. The unique spelling...

5 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

After the Mariner kills the albatross, the crew initially blames him for their misfortune as the ship becomes stuck in the doldrums without wind. They hang the albatross around his neck as...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a literary ballad by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, known for its dramatic narrative and supernatural events. It follows traditional ballad structures, like iambic...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The quote "Day after day, day after day . . . Upon a painted ocean" from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" illustrates the ship's motionless state after the mariner kills the albatross. The...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the present narrative is used as a framing device for the past narrative that the ancient mariner tells. This allows...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" contains several allegorical elements. The mariner's journey symbolizes a spiritual voyage, highlighting themes of sin, penance, and redemption. The albatross...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

To write a logbook for Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," record the ship's journey from leaving the harbor, encountering storms, mist, and ice near the South Pole, and the appearance of...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Examples of onomatopoeia in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" include words like "cracked," "growled," "roared," and "howled" to describe the ice surrounding the ship. Other instances are "groan" and...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the Mariner's curse stems from killing an albatross, which symbolizes his disrespect for nature and God. This act leads to the death of his crew and...

7 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," Coleridge uses repetition to emphasize key themes and situations. Four notable segments include: the repetition of "the ice was here, the ice was there" to...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The mariner compares himself to the snakes when he finally appreciates their beauty and grace, seeing them as part of God's creation. Initially, he dismissed them as "slimy things," reflecting his...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Mariner describes the storm as a powerful, personified force in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." He likens it to a "tyrannous and strong" winged creature, possibly a bird of prey or dragon,...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner symbolizes guilt and loneliness through various symbols and events in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." His guilt is depicted by the mist and fog that obscure the ship's path and...

3 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The ancient mariner is described as having a long grey beard, glittering eyes, and a skinny hand. He appears otherworldly and compelling, with an aura of mystery and wisdom. The narrator, on the...

4 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The iceberg is described as "as green as emerald" possibly due to symbolic and historical reasons. Symbolically, green represents nature, suggesting a return to normalcy after the albatross's death....

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge uses vivid imagery and multiple speakers to convey its themes. Imagery in stanzas 7 and 8 of Part 2 highlights a stagnant, eerie sea under...

8 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the quote "He holds him with his glittering eye...The Mariner hath his will" describes how the Mariner captivates a wedding guest with...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Ancient Mariner faces severe consequences for killing the albatross, symbolizing his disrespect for nature. He endures physical and spiritual torment, including isolation and witnessing the death...

3 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the wedding guest serves as the listener to the Mariner's tale, symbolizing the receiver in a rhetorical situation. Initially reluctant, the wedding guest...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Mariner has a profound effect on the Wedding Guest. Initially, he mesmerizes and frightens him with his appearance and tale, making the guest believe he might be a ghost. The story leaves the...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," the "slimy things" symbolize nature's abhorrence and punishment following the albatross's death, appearing with the sea's decay and stagnation. In contrast, the...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The lines reflect the Mariner's guilt for killing the albatross, which his crew believed brought favorable winds and good fortune. The crew initially condemns the Mariner for this "hellish thing,"...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Repetition in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is used to enhance its literary ballad form, which features simple language, repetition, and strong rhyme and rhythm. The phrase "The bright-eyed...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Coleridge used the archaic spelling "rime" to evoke a sense of age and distance, aligning with the word "ancient" and "mariner," which also suggest an older time. This choice helps frame the poem as...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," storytelling serves as a means of penance and moral instruction. The Mariner is compelled to share his tale to relieve his guilt for killing an albatross, a sin...

4 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The climax of Part 3 in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" occurs when the crew dies after encountering the ghostly ship, leaving the Mariner alone. The conclusion follows with the Mariner's...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," dreams play significant roles. In Part Two, crew members dream that the albatross's spirit is causing the ship's troubles, leading them to hang the dead bird...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The wedding guest is afraid of the mariner because he thinks he might be either the spirit of a dead person walking the earth or otherwise associated with the unholy spirits of the dead. In both...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" relates to the situations of nowadays because it argues in favor of respecting all of nature as God's creation. This relates to the situation today of climate...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Imagery in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" reveals the Mariner's despair through the metaphor of the albatross as a burden, symbolizing his guilt and stress. The Mariner's despair is depicted...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"Kubla Khan" and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Coleridge differ significantly in structure and theme. "Kubla Khan" is a fragmentary, imaginative poem with an indeterminate meter and lacks the...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Yes, the excerpt from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" contains alliteration. The repeated initial consonant sounds include "f" in "fair," "foam," "flew," "furrow," "followed," "free," and "first";...

3 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The meter in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" employs ballad meter with alternating iambic tetrameter and trimeter, rhymed ABAB, situating it within the tradition of narrative folk ballads, often...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

This stanza in Part II illustrates the effectiveness of Coleridge’s concentrated poetic language: About, about, in reel and rout The death fires danced at night; The water, like a witch’s oils Burned...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," internal rhyme can be seen in "The guests are met, the feast is set" and "The game is done! I've won! I've won!" Alliteration examples include "He holds him with...

3 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

What is meant by a "painted ocean" is that the seas on which the Ancient Mariner and his crew-mates are sailing no longer seem to be moving. As there is no wind, and therefore no movement, it's as if...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The argument in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is that it is morally wrong to harm innocent creatures, and those who do will face divine judgment. The poem emphasizes...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Mariner gets home again because Angels reanimate the bodies of the deceased crew, who steer the ship back to port at unimaginable speed. The ship then sinks, but a boat comes to his rescue and...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The repetition of "The Wedding Guest beat his breast" in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" emphasizes his frustration and anguish at missing the wedding to listen to the Mariner's captivating tale....

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Mariner in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" stops the specific wedding guest because he is compelled by a force to share his story with certain individuals. This compulsion is described as a...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Themes in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" are illustrated through quotations such as "Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink," highlighting the theme of despair and irony, and "He prayeth...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Several oxymorons appear in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." In Part One, "dismal sheen" combines gloomy with shining. Part Two's "Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink" highlights the...

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The albatross symbolizes both good luck and a burdensome psychological or emotional weight in literature. In "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an albatross initially...

1 educator answer

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The images of sun, death, wind, and sea creatures are all connected with the mariner's guilt and his curse.

2 educator answers

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Fourteen key events from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" include: the ship sets sail, becomes trapped in ice and fog, an albatross arrives, freeing the ship; the mariner kills the albatross,...

1 educator answer