The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere) is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Co...
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Oct 26, 2008
Cameron
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Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
When I did construction work this is what I always wrote on the inside of the Port-a-Potties, amongst all the other graffiti and anatomically imaginative drawings of women.
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was white as leprosy,
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
When I did construction work this is what I always wrote on the inside of the Port-a-Potties, amongst all the other graffiti and anatomically imaginative drawings of women.
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Jan 29, 2012
Anastasia
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Yeah, it's good.
La poesia di Coleridge è incredibile, tralasciando per un momento quello che dice o non dice. Si tratta del modo in cui si esprime, la sua lirica. Del tipo che se mi parli anche solo di quello che hai mangiato ieri sera, io sono felice.
Naturalmente anche il contenuto vale, ci mancherebbe. Sono tanto belli i libri che ineggiano al valore della vita, almeno, questo è il significato che Coleridge ha dichiarato nella ballata.
Sono sicurissima che ha omesso int More...
La poesia di Coleridge è incredibile, tralasciando per un momento quello che dice o non dice. Si tratta del modo in cui si esprime, la sua lirica. Del tipo che se mi parli anche solo di quello che hai mangiato ieri sera, io sono felice.
Naturalmente anche il contenuto vale, ci mancherebbe. Sono tanto belli i libri che ineggiano al valore della vita, almeno, questo è il significato che Coleridge ha dichiarato nella ballata.
Sono sicurissima che ha omesso int More...
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Nov 27, 2008
Elizabeth
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I know 'serious' students of poetry will mock this, but I really think this is a superlative poem and will even say that I believe Coleridge to be a superior poet to Wordsworth. The ballad meter is delightful, and how can one not be won over by things like: "I fear thee, ancient mariner/ I fear thy skinny hand/ For thou art long and lank and brown/ As is the ribbed sea sand." Ew, I mean, can't you just imagine what this guy looks like?
Or how about this?
"The More...
Or how about this?
"The More...
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Mar 08, 2008
Laurie
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I've loved this poem since college. I re-read it again today and it still amazes me. Perhaps in a different light now. So many of the lines just stick with you and as apt as they are for the poem, can be interpreted to apply to so many facets of life.
- "Water, Water Everywhere / And all the boards did shrink / Water, Water Everywhere / Nor any Drop To Drink" ... I can't help but think of global warming when I read this. We have everything on our planet but the resources are s More...
- "Water, Water Everywhere / And all the boards did shrink / Water, Water Everywhere / Nor any Drop To Drink" ... I can't help but think of global warming when I read this. We have everything on our planet but the resources are s More...
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Apr 29, 2011
Katherine
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I read this poem in my late British Lit class. I love the metaphor of the albatross as Christ, which the mariner kills with a "cross"bow. Brilliant. Also, the saying "Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink" comes from this poem. One of the most interesting things about it is that Samuel Coleridge had an Opium addiction, which he was continually trying to overcome. The themes of change, redemption and forgiveness are central to this piece, which are themes that
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Jan 16, 2012
Scott
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Coleridge's dark, mysterious look at some of mankind's misdeeds and the all too often disregard for life, come to life in this 'epic' style poem. The language and movement of the poetry is nothing short of musical and airy. It's truly beautiful to read as its rhythm almost seems to undulate with the seas.
The main character is an old mariner who lives to re-tell his horrible story. He stops two men on their way to a celebration, and the mesmerizing, yet scary appearance of the old ma More...
The main character is an old mariner who lives to re-tell his horrible story. He stops two men on their way to a celebration, and the mesmerizing, yet scary appearance of the old ma More...
Jan 12, 2012
Adam
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I like Coleridge because I'd like to be him, though I have a bit of trouble identifying with some of his characteristics: he was a born poet; Martin Amis has an idea that congenital poets have a certain look - heavy lips, I think, tall, floppy blonde hair: as a teenager, I read and reread the Martin Gardner intro to this book for its evocation of a time when, if you were an honoured writer, people like Josiah Wedgwood would fund your walking trips around the Lake District, or support you financi
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Aug 29, 2011
Sadia
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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May 15, 2011
Thomas
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I read this as an introduction to Frakenstein - I had trouble getting into the story, but eventually let go of reality and immersed myself in Coleridge's phenomenal writing.
"Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink."
My peers joked that Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner while under an opium-induced haze. I think the drug may have affected his perspective when crafting this More...
"Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere
Nor any drop to drink."
My peers joked that Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner while under an opium-induced haze. I think the drug may have affected his perspective when crafting this More...
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Sep 29, 2009
Anoud
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The rime of ancient mariner is literally a masterpiece. It’s a very famous Romantic ballad (it can be considered as Pastoral as well) written by Coleridge, and it's believed it contributed a lot to the English literature. The plot of this ballad goes as the following; an ancient mariner stops a man who's sitting in-or hitting to- a wedding feast, and forces him to listen to his story. The ancient mariner had been in a very deadly journey. He suffered a lot and saw what a deathlike life is, thus
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Oct 26, 2011
Mary Beth
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This simply affirms my love for Coleridge. I really have to say that I think he's my favorite poet. (I am not good at picking a favorite for anything, but I think I can in this case.)
My favorite poem is still To Nature:
To Nature
It may indeed be phantasy, when I
Essay to draw from all created things
Deep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings ;
And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lie
Lessons of love and earnest piety More...
My favorite poem is still To Nature:
To Nature
It may indeed be phantasy, when I
Essay to draw from all created things
Deep, heartfelt, inward joy that closely clings ;
And trace in leaves and flowers that round me lie
Lessons of love and earnest piety More...
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Jan 10, 2012
Charity
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I was being a prat when I read this during my senior year of high school. I remember the basis of the poem, and I remember that it was a pretty awesome basis. I am going to read it again and give a better review. I also remember a lot of albatross, which is evidently the only symbol that teachers feel the need to drill into students heads when reading this poem.
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Mar 03, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
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Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
That is the the line (or are the lines) that stick in my mind.
I read this poem years ago elementary school (the late 60s). I was already developing a taste for fantasy literature. Where I lived at the time books in general were a little hard to come by, the school library was about my only source and this was a small rural school. I had searched out Arthur More...
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
That is the the line (or are the lines) that stick in my mind.
I read this poem years ago elementary school (the late 60s). I was already developing a taste for fantasy literature. Where I lived at the time books in general were a little hard to come by, the school library was about my only source and this was a small rural school. I had searched out Arthur More...
Nov 12, 2011
Diannemason
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From the free ebook, 'Complete poetry works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge' (downloaded from Project Gutenberg), "Rime" is the only one I've read so far.
It's actually quite interesting how I arrived here. Several years ago, on a TV channel I can't for the life of me remember now, I saw, believe it or not, a cartoon that was made to illustrate "Rime" as accurately as possible. I was fascinated with it then.
And more recently, I came across Coleridge because the father i More...
It's actually quite interesting how I arrived here. Several years ago, on a TV channel I can't for the life of me remember now, I saw, believe it or not, a cartoon that was made to illustrate "Rime" as accurately as possible. I was fascinated with it then.
And more recently, I came across Coleridge because the father i More...
Apr 27, 2011
Lacie
rated it: 
Fantastical style – contains evil spells, bad omens, ghosts, etc. The main character kills a 'bird of good fortune'; his crew is cast under an evil spell as a result, and terrible things begin happening to him… There was no apparent purpose to the poem, and I did not care for it.
Jun 24, 2011
Philip
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This poem is in seven parts. I was about done with it after five. I'm not a huge poetry person, preferring prose, (although alliteration is amusing) but the neverending book quiz thing asked a question about it, so I figured I'd read it.
I mean, the fact that it's poetry just -in this case - means that it has meter and rhyme, but it also kinda means that there's a lot of unnecessarily verbiage, in my opinion. Which takes away from the plot and characters and just makes it somewhat borin More...
I mean, the fact that it's poetry just -in this case - means that it has meter and rhyme, but it also kinda means that there's a lot of unnecessarily verbiage, in my opinion. Which takes away from the plot and characters and just makes it somewhat borin More...
Nov 26, 2011
Fiona
rated it:
I remember reading this at school years ago. I didn't care much for it then. Now that I'm older and wiser, hopefully, I would think my opinion of this poem has improved. Maybe a little, but not by much. I read the 1817 version not the 1798 version. The most recent version is more understandable and does include a Gloss (side notes from the author).
The plot was clear: lost near Antarctica, shooting of the Albatross (must be one of the smaller one), death of the other sailors, the deat More...
The plot was clear: lost near Antarctica, shooting of the Albatross (must be one of the smaller one), death of the other sailors, the deat More...
Mar 30, 2010
Angelia
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This is a heartbreaking poem about redemption. Coleridge masterfully weaves the magical and the Gothic into the story of one man's mistake, the mistake he must make right for the remainder of his life. His redemption, sadly, is short-lived; he must always tell his story, and when he gets the call, he flies to the person who needs to hear it (telling it to just anyone does not work, does not fulfill his obligation). I really do love this poem, and I found when teaching that students, though initi
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Oct 27, 2011
Michael G.
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We sailed south near to the pole and in ice almost got stuck. We sailed back north and then just sat adrift. Many of the crew were killed and also a bird three under par and I drank blood from a jar. The loch ness beast swam under the ship and pushed me almost home until I saw the spirits flee from the church and I sang hymns and flew into the sun to cast the dead bird away, and away I followed him. I left the ship and walked ashore laughing on the beach. I raised my face toward the sun and
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Oct 31, 2009
Hans
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When good fortune shows its kindly face and is spurned life becomes a darkened curse. Only through recognition of what one has done and a shift in being can the cursed life become redeemed. Wonderful poem. The part that fascinated me the most was that the Ancient Mariner was talking to someone on their way to a Wedding. The Wedding being the perfect symbol for what should be the ultimate festival of joy. Knowing what one has is to recognize your good fortune to no squander it or reject it. E
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Jun 14, 2011
Blakearmin
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Make a work ambiguous enough and there will be an endless stream of interpretations. This one is going to take a few read-troughs to try and understand it a little better. I'm not at all convinced that a one-pass attempt can lead to anything but a superficial understanding of the most basic aspects of the poem. It's great to finally know the source of the innumberable quotations from this! Now I can start dropping these gems, too.
Anywho, the work is a little challenging as is any at More...
Anywho, the work is a little challenging as is any at More...
May 02, 2009
Lily
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I think I read this back in highschool, but it was good to read it again paired with Doré's spectacular illustrations; I think they added a lot to the experience. This poem tells the story--as grisly as it is beautiful--of a man's adventures on the high seas, and his journey from hatred to love. The language is perfectly musical. Perhaps it gets a little bit moralistic at the end, but it's a moral that grows naturally out of the rest of the work--and besides, it's just about the most important m
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Oct 29, 2011
shanties
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The Ancyent Marinere Rulez
The publishing of Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems in 1798 is usually regarded as the birth certificate of the Romantic movement in English litterae.
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, deliberately breaking away from the common taste of the age, had underlined in the opening Advertisement the "experimental" and innovative character of their compositions. It had been their program to write poetry in the lower and middle reg More...
The publishing of Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems in 1798 is usually regarded as the birth certificate of the Romantic movement in English litterae.
William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, deliberately breaking away from the common taste of the age, had underlined in the opening Advertisement the "experimental" and innovative character of their compositions. It had been their program to write poetry in the lower and middle reg More...
May 10, 2011
Bettie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Feb 27, 2009
Strange, yet compelling, I looked it up because I've come across many references to this poem in the type of stuff I read.
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I'm not going to star this one, because I think you have to read it keeping in mind the time that it was written (early 1800's), and not everyone will 'get' it. Better to see it as a foundation which future authors were influenced by, IMHO. Suffice it to say, however, that once I finished it I thought about it-and went back and read it again and got much more More...
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I'm not going to star this one, because I think you have to read it keeping in mind the time that it was written (early 1800's), and not everyone will 'get' it. Better to see it as a foundation which future authors were influenced by, IMHO. Suffice it to say, however, that once I finished it I thought about it-and went back and read it again and got much more More...
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Jul 30, 2008
Paula
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I just love the title poem, but I was thrilled when, after bringing the book home, that many of my other favorite Coleridge poems also were included in this edition.
This book includes The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Frost at Midnight, This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison Dejection: An Ode, Youth and Age, Work Without Hope, and Epitaph. (I was hoping that, after reading the introduction, Christabel also would be included but, alas, it must have been deemed too long for this boo More...
This book includes The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Kubla Khan, Frost at Midnight, This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison Dejection: An Ode, Youth and Age, Work Without Hope, and Epitaph. (I was hoping that, after reading the introduction, Christabel also would be included but, alas, it must have been deemed too long for this boo More...
Mar 12, 2009
John
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I mostly abhor poetry, but here Coleridge earned a great rhythm that comes across even to the modern American tongue, and uses his patterns to put things in great ways. “Water, water, everywhere” is rightfully a famous passage, the use of both repetition and enunciation patterns lends the poem an almost immortal inertia. That is most fitting as it’s about a man who could not die when all his crew did. The albatross is also rightfully famous: the mariner shot it for no great cause, and wound up w
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Feb 27, 2009
English Department
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So who is Albert Ross and what links the Flying Dutchman from the Pirates of the Caribbean, Master and Commander, the heavy metal band Iron Maiden and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? Answer a bird and the narrative ballad, 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner'! Perhaps there is no other poem that has so fully entered popular consciousness than this one. It revisits archaic forms and language imbueing it with the power of myth and religious allegory; a classic tale of sin, damnation and adventure.
Jan 12, 2011
Adriana
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of Coleridge’s best known poems, first published in 1798 in the collection of Lyrical Ballads; it is a wonderful poem full of symbols and a great imagery. The presence of religious symbols and themes are also very important and are through the whole poem.
I believe the moral of the story is a beautiful one, the one of respect and care for all living creatures, that, and the stunning imagery makes of this poem one of my new favourite ones.
I believe the moral of the story is a beautiful one, the one of respect and care for all living creatures, that, and the stunning imagery makes of this poem one of my new favourite ones.
