After
reading “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, Coleridge’s interests and ethics
have become much more clear. He has a particular interest in ancient stories
and the act of storytelling. This is apparent when he describes the wedding
guest listening to the Old Mariner “like a three years child.” He believes it
is valuable to listen and learn from your elders, and describes the wedding
guest as “a sadder and a wiser man” rising from “the morrow morn” after hearing
the Old Mariner’s story. Coleridge also must believe in supernatural beings due
to the wedding guest’s questioning of whether the Mariner is a ghost or not. He
exclaims, “I fear thee, ancient mariner!” and “thy skinny hand!”
The
poem went against the unrhymed language of traditional romantic writing, but
held many of the themes commonly associated with the era. One such theme is the
focus on the importance of experiences. The story is told largely from the
Ancient Mariners perspective, highlighting the value of individuality. The
romantic era of writing was among the first to focus a literary work on the
storytelling of one major character. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner also exemplifies
holiness in nature. Coleridge places the old mariner in the open ocean for the
setting of the poem, making him seem small and vulnerable in comparison to the
vast ocean. Nature is a spiritual element in this poem.
The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner was inspired by a number of historical narratives
such as Captain James Cook's voyages, the legend of the Wandering
Jew, and Captain George Shelvocke's 1726 “A Voyage 'Round the World”. In “A Voyage 'Round the World”, a shipmate is
said to have shot an albatross. This also occurs in Rime of the Ancient
Mariner. Others claim the poem was inspired by a dream or that it was written
while Coleridge was under the influence of opium.
Coleridge struggled
with an addiction to opium most of his life. It affected his social life and
his career as a writer. In 1814, he separated from his wife and put himself in
the care of a doctor. One of his most famous poems “Kubla
Khan” was believed to have been written from an opium-induced dream. Evidence
suggests that “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” may have been as well. During his
sailing adventure, the old mariner and his crew are blown off course. They are
eventually faced with dehydration and starvation. While lost at sea, they
encounter an eerie ghost ship occupied by Death and Life-in-death. These two ghosts play dice for the souls of
the crew. The mystical nature of this poem and its supernatural elements would
be difficult to come up with unless under the influence of opium. These
imaginative elements marked a shift away from realism that began during the
Romantic Era in literature.
Coleridge’s literary devices help
add to the fantasy elements and depth of the poem. He employs imagery to ignite
the reader’s imagination. The imagery of “water snakes” and their reflective
colors is one such example.
