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Never rely on other people's notes. Just use them to develop your own thinking. It's far better to find something new or different in a text for yourself even if it's off the beaten track. Bad teachers give too many notes. Good teachers tell you how to make your own.
Well said :thumbs_up What it boils down to is that different people take notes in different ways. We touched on that subject in this old thread: Anyone here using mindmapping?Quote:
Originally Posted by ennison
/Claes
I thought this thread was to discuss the poem itself. but all you guys have done is mention the poem in general......
Well, actually the topic of this thread is:
So, perhaps we've been adhering to the given parameters quite admirably? Just briefly looking over your contribution, it seems like your answer to the proffered question is indeed, "Yes." (Just clearing that up so that we remain on topic.)Quote:
Originally Posted by urooj
Yeah 'Rime of the Ancyent Marinere' is the poem at the beginning of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 'Lyrical Ballads' collection. Although Coleridge is said to have made less of a contribution to the collection as the book only features about four of his poems, I reckon the long-winded 'Rime of the Ancyent Marinere' makes up for a fair few! It's got like, 150 stanzas. You should note the theme of nature and the supernatural in the poem and the use of archaic language.:thumbs_up
A wedding guest is stopped by a mariner with a 'glittering eye' who tells the story of his eerie sea voyage. His 'glittering eye' is what keeps the WG so transfixed on the mariner and his tale. On the ships travels, it strays towards the South Pole, where the ice cliffs show no life whatsoever and the ice itself makes mostrous noises that echo in the distance. An albatross then begins to follow the ship and the crew become fond of the bird, as it seems to be the only living thing for miles. As the crew feed the bird 'biscuit-worms', it follows the ship wherever it goes.
And then, for whatever reason, the mariner decides to shoot the poor thing.
What an arse.
Now because he's shot this albatross his fellow sea-mates aren't too happy with him at first, but as the ship begins to find it's path once more, they forgive the mariner, believing that he did the right thing to shoot the 'bird of bad omen'.
Suddenly, once the ship reaches the equator, the ship finds itself in an eerie place, an area unprotected by nature, with the 'silent sea' surrounding the boat for miles and miles. No wind, no movement, the boat stays still.
'Water, water, everywhere/And all the boards did shrink/Water, water, everywhere/Nor any drop to drink.' - Thankyou Iron Maiden! (And Coleridge I Guess.
(Download the song Iron Maiden - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner... big help and pretty awesome riffs too! It's like, 13 minutes long but worth a listen if you're a bigger fan of heavy metal than poetry!)
It's important to note the position of the sun in the poem, whether it be to the right of the boat, to the left or above the mast as this indicates what direction the boat is headed, e.g. the sun rising from the right shows they are moving north.
So the crew are left stranded in this god forsaken place right? This eerie, lifeless place where the 'silent-sea' stretches out as far as the eye can see, and at night, 'slimy things' crawl around on the boat... euwh! The crew blame the mariner once again for shooting the bird as this has brought them the consequence of being lost, and they hang the albatross around his neck - you may have heard the saying to hang an albatross around one's neck is symbolic of holding the burden of guilt.
The sailors tongues become 'wither'd at the root' - lovely - when finally the mariner spots a moving sail in the distance, bites his arm to shed his own blood and this helps him to scream to his sea crew 'A sail! A sail!' You could note that the mariner biting his arm to release blood as an act of self-sacrifice to alert the other members of the ship.
But anyway...
The spotted ship in the distance seems to be sailing without any wind behind it's sails, and as it nears it appears that the only two mates on the ship are Death, and She-Life-in-Death... Cheery! The imagery Coleridge uses to describe these two is rather gothic as death appears as a black, skeletal being and She-Life-in-Death as a red-lipped woman with leprosy. Nice! :S
They play dice and Death wins the crew and She-Life-in-Death wins the Mariner. So as you can probably imagine, the crew drop dead and the mariner is doomed to live on the boat alone, cold, on a ship, on the 'silent-sea' to pay repentence for his thoughtless act of shooting the albatross.
The corpses of the crew are left with a cursing look in their eye, directed at the mariner.
Soooo to move things along because I'm probably rambling and I want this to be easy to understand for you guys...
The mariner, being surrounded by the silence of the sea and the corpses of the crew, comes to see the beauty of the slimy little critters I mentioned before and he subconciously blesses them. And because he has done so, he is somewhat forgiven for his actions and the corpses jump up and carry on with their normal tasks on the ship - but they're still dead and ignore the mariner (even his own nephew who we learn has been on the boat too).
On the journey back home, the mariner finds he can actually sleep and in his sleep he hears two voices which explain why the ship is moving without wind and that the mariner is still not completely forgiven and must carry on with his repentance.
So they arrive back at the harbour of the mariner's home, and the first thing the mariner sees is the lighthouse. (It was also the last thing he saw before the ship sailed out of the harbour and it is symbolic of light and guidance.) A pilot, a young boy and a hermit sail out in a small rowing boat to guide the ship into the harbour but the water suddenly parts and submerges the mariners' ship taking her and her crew down into a whirlpool. The mariner survives and and rows back to shore with the pilot, the hermit and the young boy. (The young boy believes him to be a demon).
So then basically the mariner is cursed to tell his tale to anyone who should need to hear it, and the wedding guest who doesn't even attend the wedding in the end, wakes up the next day a 'sadder', 'wiser' man.
Hope that rambling helped!
I would also suggest that if you ever wanna read Lyrical Ballads it's probably sensible to leave this poem til later on and read Tintern Abbery or The Thorn first.
Of course I know the Rime! I studeied it some time ago at school and I love it! I think its great, not only for the story, but also for the language and for the supernatural elements that make this long poem even more beautiful and "magic".
As anyone has already said this poem is part of the collection of poems "Lyrical Ballads", written in 1798 by Coleridge and Wordsworth and it is said to be the start of the Romantic movement in England.
Does your teacher have any interesting theories on lines 586 to 590?Quote:
Originally Posted by bcthighs
What has the mariner become to have "strange power of speech"?
The lines around 615 suggest he has been filled with the spirit of God.
Hey there, I'm studying this poem at the moment and have to say its fantastic!
Coleridge at his best.
I adore the super-natural elements, it adds another level to the romantic movement; the marinere is imprisoned by his tail and cursed forever to tell the tale...simular to the ideas found in Coleridge's Tintern Abbey ; Wordsworth is almost followed by the memories of the Wye and hopes that he two will be remembered.
However...that is slightly from the point. What is quite important to know is that Coleridge is supposed to have written this whilst under the influence of Opium. It's about a journey; not of that to the actual Poles but to the extremities of the mind...beyond the elementary threshold.
I guess its a bit like marmite...
but personally, i think it tastes pretty good :)
I had heard this poem. You can find it in Authors biography.
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