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After discussing Samuel Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” in length during Tuesday’s class, I figured I would “beat the poem to death” just a little bit more by writing my blog post on the piece. I am truly sorry if you’re sick and tired of discussing said poem, but I hope in attempting to shed new light upon the poem...I will not be completely wasting all of your time. So, without further delay, I shall begin my entry!
After reexamining the poem, I asked myself, “how does Coleridge use nature to reflect the transformation of the mariner throughout his journey?” A reader could deduce from a simple, surface level reading of the work that the natural world holds great power in the poem, whether it be beautiful, frightening, or both simultaneously that natural elements play a large role throughout each stage of the mariner’s journey. During class, we debated whether or not Coleridge had religious motivations for writing this poem, and if so, what was he trying to imply about religious practices. With a more careful analysis, I see that as a reader, we do not have to necessarily decide whether or not Coleridge attempts to make points about Christianity through the tale of the mariner. Now, I see that Coleridge wants to connect the spiritual and the natural worlds by clarifying to readers the ways in which the spiritual world controls and utilizes the natural world. By comparing and contrasting the various literary devices employed by Coleridge in the lines before the mariner kills albatross, the lines in which guilt and/or curse plagues the mariner, and lastly the lines where the mariner finds absolution and redemption, I will hope to answer the previously posed question.
During the time before the mariner kills the albatross, he excitedly declares, "The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared." The alliteration within this line promotes a smooth reading, thus signifying a sense of peacefulness between the mariner and the ocean, the natural world. The use of pleasantries in reference to the natural world dissolve after the mariner kills the albatross, he states, “Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down.” The repetition within this line emphasizes the halted breeze, which brings disfavor upon the mariner from the other sailors who blame him for the lack of breeze. Here, the natural world, in the form of the breeze, or lack there of punishes the mariner for his spiritual wrongdoings, thus exemplifying the ways in which Coleridge illustrates how the spiritual world controls the natural world.
Throughout his journey, the mariner battles many of the elements, such as the intensity of the sun, the lack of rain, and the aforementioned death of the wind. But, in the turning point, or what some would consider the climax of the poem, the mariner exclaims, “shinning white....elfish light...Blue, glossy green, and velvet black…O happy living things!" This exclamation with its powerful imagery and use of color illustriously signals the transformative moment within the mariner. In this moment, with his vivid descriptions of the sea creatures’ readers can see the mariner’s newfound appreciation for the beauty within all God’s creations, and so begins his voyage towards redemption. Yet again, Coleridge creates a link between the spiritual and the natural worlds. Through gaining appreciation and seeing beauty within all of God’s creatures, the mariner slowly begins to redeem himself, and thus explains the alleviation of the natural phenomena’s on the rest of his journey.
At the poem's end, the Ancient Mariner preaches respect for the natural world as a way to remain in good standing with the spiritual world, because in order to respect God, one must respect all of his creations. Finally through the use of a simile within the final lines, Coleridge connects the worlds once more, “The albatross fell off, and sank like lead into the sea.” This simile, which credits natural forces for the falling off of the albatross, suggests that God, or the spiritual world has connected with the natural world once again. The albatross falling into the sea through the means of natural force detracts guilt from the mariner, and now relinquishes control back into the hands of God and/or spiritual forces, thus stripping the mariner of his guilt for he has received redemption and deliverance from his sin.
I agree with Jill's reading of the poem in regards to the link between spirituality and nature. I do not think Coleridge necessarily intended to make a grand proclamation about Christianity, but moreso about respect for life through spirituality. The use of gothic tropes, which are often spiritually bound, serve as tools for Coleridge to make a larger claim about the importance of appreciating the natural world, God's creation. Nature has extreme power over us, which is evident through the Mariner's disaster-ridden voyage. I think human beings often attempt to impose control over uncontrollable forces, as when the Mariner shoots the Albatross; this is a result of feeling powerless to the often unmerciful and awesome presence of the natural world. Since the beginning of time people have interpreted natural occurrences and weather phenomena as signs of a higher power; that nature is a vehicle through which God can communicate with us, often perceived as a form of punishment. Due to this common belief, Coleridge is able to nature to explore issues of power and spirituality.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Hannah and Jill, and I think by interacting with these uncontrollable forces, Coleridge is invoking the sublime. What I think is so interesting about this idea is that even though the sublime in general has sort of fallen out of fashion in the literary world (at least comparatively), this particular brand of sublime remains extremely popular. The idea that there are uncontrollable forces interacting with people in the world is constantly popping up in recent literature, movies, television shows, ect. The example I can think of most clearly would be that human power itself seems to be uncontrollable. Or in other words, power corrupts. The Mariner did have power over the Albatross when he shot it, but he ultimately payed the price. This idea is in The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Twilight, ect. The list really does go on forever.
ReplyDeleteEverything that Jill, Hannah, and Jeni have said here makes sense. A lot of things within the poem point towards a spiritual reading, but none more so than nature. But I think it is less about what type of spirituality is being represented (Christianity, superstition, etc.) and more about the simple idea that we cannot control everything, that there is something out there more powerful than us. The mariner can control his own choices and actions: he decides to confront the sea by sailing on it even though many things can go wrong, and he decides to kill the bird for some unknown reason despite originally thinking it had done some good. After that, though it is out of his hands until he can react to the consequences that his decisions have made.
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