Use of Supernatural Elements in Coleridge's 'The Ancient Mariner ' The greatness of S. T. Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner lies chiefly in the technique by which the supernatural has been made believable and convincing. There are a number of impossible, incredible, and fantastic situations in the poem. The fascinating power in Mariner’s gaze, the sudden appearance of the mysterious skeleton ship, the spectre- woman and her mate, the coming back of life to the dead crew, the sudden sinking of the ship, the polar spirits talking to each other- all these and other supernatural incidents are scattered in the poem. With these supernatural elements the poet has artistically interwoven convincing pictures of Nature like the sun shining brightly at the outset, the mist and snow surrounding the ship, the freezing cold of the Artic region, slimy creatures creeping upon the sea, the moon going up the sky with a star or two beside it, the water snakes moving in the water in a variety of colors. The natural and supernatural, the real and fantastic, the possible ad the impossible have been so skillfully and artistically mingled that the whole strikes us as quite convincing and credible . The setting of the poem is natural, known to all. With a view to giving his story an air of plausibility, Coleridge gives accurate description of his nature. In the AM every phase of landscape, seascape and cloudscape is touched upon. The bright sun, the “Kirk” or church, the hill, the lighthouse, the cheerful onlookers at the harbor, the wedding guest, the marriage ceremony, the storm blast in the sea, the mist and snow of the Arctic region and many other natural elements are there in the setting of the story. All these natural phenomena have been made very convincing . In this natural setting are set the supernatural incidents. A terrible storm hit and forced the ship southwards. The “storm blast” was “tyrannous and strong’ and struck the ship with”overtaking wings”. Then the sailors reached a calm patch of sea that was “wondrous cold” full of snow and glistering green icebergs” as tall as the ship’s mast . And now there came both mist and snow ,
Transcript
Use of Supernatural Elements in Coleridge's 'The Ancient Mariner'
The greatness of S. T. Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner lies chiefly in the technique by which the supernatural has been made believable and convincing. There are a number of impossible, incredible, and fantastic situations in the poem. The fascinating power in Mariner’s gaze, the sudden appearance of the mysterious skeleton ship, the spectre- woman and her mate, the coming back of life to the dead crew, the sudden sinking of the ship, the polar spirits talking to each other- all these and other supernatural incidents are scattered in the poem. With these supernatural elements the poet has artistically interwoven convincing pictures of Nature like the sun shining brightly at the outset, the mist and snow surrounding the ship, the freezing cold of the Artic region, slimy creatures creeping upon the sea, the moon going up the sky with a star or two beside it, the water snakes moving in the water in a variety of colors. The natural and supernatural, the real and fantastic, the possible ad the impossible have been so skillfully and artistically mingled that the whole strikes us as quite convincing and credible.
The setting of the poem is natural, known to all. With a view to giving his story an air of plausibility, Coleridge gives accurate description of his nature. In the AM every phase of landscape, seascape and cloudscape is touched upon. The bright sun, the “Kirk” or church, the hill, the lighthouse, the cheerful onlookers at the harbor, the wedding guest, the marriage ceremony, the storm blast in the sea, the mist and snow of the Arctic region and many other natural elements are there in the setting of the story. All these natural phenomena have been made very convincing.
In this natural setting are set the supernatural incidents. A terrible storm hit and forced the ship southwards. The “storm blast” was “tyrannous and strong’ and struck the ship with”overtaking wings”. Then the sailors reached a calm patch of sea that was “wondrous cold” full of snow and glistering green icebergs” as tall as the ship’s mast.
And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold
The sailors were the only living things in this frightening, enclosed world where the ice made terrible groaning sounds that echoed all around.
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!
In his Ancient Mariner, Coleridge often blends the real and unreal in order to create a supernatural world. Here we see the story at first is given a known, familiar setting but soon it passes into an unreal world. The reader is not disturbed by this smooth transition from the real to the unreal world but indulges himself in the “willing
suspension of disbelief.”
However, finally an albatross emerged from the mist, and the sailors received it as a sign of good luck, as though it were a “Christian soul” sent by God to save them. No sooner than the sailors fed the albatross did the ice break apart, allowing the captain to steer out of the freezing world. The wind picked up again and continued for nine days. All the while the bird followed the ship, ate the food the sailors gave it and played with them. But at this favorable moment the mariner did a hellish thing. He shot the bird with his cross bow.
From the moment the mariner kills the bird retribution comes in the form of natural phenomena. The wind dies, the sun intensifies and it will not rain. The ocean becomes “revolting”, “rotting” and “thrashing” with “slimy” creatures and sizzling with strange fires.
Coleridge depicts tactfully how nature punishes supernaturally for killing its innocent member. Before the sun was “bright” but now it has become “the bloody sun.” in a “hot and copper sky.”
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
The nature continues punishing the mariners. The wind refuses to blow, and the sun’s relentless heat chars the men.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breathe nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean
This hot sun makes the mariners thirsty but they have no drinkable water.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
The mariner lives like Tantalus. They need water badly and it is all around them but it is entirely undrinkable. The throats became “unslaked” and “lips baked” under the hot sun.
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.
The shipmates, in their sore distress, throw the whole guilt on the ancient Mariner and in sign they hang the dead sea-bird round his neck.
‘Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung’.
The time is weary and long. They have nothing to do but suffer only.
A weary time ! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye,
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
A mysterious ship arrives. When the ship is sighted in the distance, the sailors feel happy to think that the will now get water to quench their burning thirst.
‘I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail ! a sail’!
But in a few moments they discover the reality of the ship. The crew consists of Death and Life- in- death.
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
Coleridge beautifully depicts the mental suffering of the Mariner under this condition-:
“Fear at my heart, as at a cup
My life blood seemed to sip”.
The suffering becomes even more painful when all his fellow men dropped down one by one. And the soul of each passes by him with the sound like that of his arrow that killed the Albatross.
“They dropped down one by one”.
For seven days and nights the mariner remained alone on the ship.
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
The dead sailors, who miraculously did not rot, continued to curse him with their open eyes which intensified his inner guilt.
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,
And yet I could not die.
His surroundings- the ship, the ocean, and the creatures within it are “rotting’ in the heat and sun, but he is the one who is rotten on the inside.
Coleridge beautifully portrays how he suffer from acute mental distress when he tried to pray but could not do so, how he felt the horror of the curse in the dead men’s eyes, how the sky and the sea lay like a heavy load on his weary eyes, and how finally he felt relief. This is exactly what any man would suffer under similar circumstances. By portraying mariner’s mental states, Coleridge produces the realistic effect.
During his lonely days he spent his times by watching the little creatures on the ice. The mariner spontaneously recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes, his heart fills with love for them and he can bless them “unaware”
“A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware”
Only when the mariner is able to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, he is granted the ability to pray. The moment he begins to view the natural world benevolently, his spiritual thirst is quenched. As a sign, the albatross- the burden of sin falls from his neck.
‘The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea’.
It finally rains and his thrust is quenched.
‘My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank”
The ship suddenly began to move towards the native land of the old sailor. Ultimately the ship reached near the harbor. It sank suddenly and the old sailor was rescued from the disaster.
Thus from the above discussion it is quite clear that, the triumph of “The rime of the ancient Mariner” confines in presenting a series of incredible events in a convincing and credible way by the use of natural setting, logic of cause and effect, melody and psychological truth.
During his lonely days he spent his times by watching the little creatures on the ice. The mariner spontaneously recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes, his heart fills with love for them and he can bless them “unaware” Only when the mariner is able to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, he is granted the ability to pray. The moment he begins to view the natural world benevolently, his spiritual thirst is quenched. As a sign, the albatross- the burden of sin falls from his neck. It finally rains and his thrust is quenched. The ship suddenly began to move towards the native land of the old sailor. Ultimately the ship reached near the harbor. It sank suddenly and the old sailor was rescued from the disaster.
Thus from the above discussion it is quite clear that, the triumph of “The rime of the ancient Mariner” confines in presenting a series of incredible events in a convincing and credible way by the use of natural settinThe Rime of the Ancient Mariner Theme of The Supernatural
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is Exhibit A for evidence of Coleridge's wild imagination, which was helped along by a moderate-to-heavy opium usage. He takes bits and pieces of mythology and symbolism from Greek and Roman myth and Christian scripture and manufactures a modern ghost-and-zombie story complete with visits from Death and his grisly accomplice, Life-and-Death. The power of supernatural forces over the ship and its crew helps to make the Mariner's own feebleness clear. The supernatural is often related to meteorological (weather) and astrological events in this poem.g, logic of cause and effect, melody and psychological truth.
The Supernatural Theme
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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner The Supernatural Quotes Page 1
Page (1 of 2) Quotes: 1 2
How we cite the quotes:
(Section.Stanza)
Quote #1
He holds him with his glittering eye–
The wedding-guest stood still,
And listens like a three-years' child:
The mariner hath his will. (I.4)
One moment, the Wedding Guest is calling the old man a loon and trying to squirm free. The next moment he's listening like a grade-school kid at story time. What gives? Clearly the Mariner has some kind of unusual and magnetic power, symbolized by his bright, "glittering" eyes.
Quote #2
And some in dreams assured were
Of the spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow. (II.31-32)
Weird stuff starts to happen after the boat has been sitting idly on the water for a while. The water is filled with colors that witches might produce in their potions, and the crew members start dreaming about a supernatural "spirit" that lives deep under the ocean but which now haunts their ship. There are quite a few different supernatural elements to keep track of in this poem.
Quote #3
Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!
Are those her sails that glance in the sun,
Like restless gossameres?
Are those her ribs through which the sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that woman all her crew?
Is that a Death? and are there two?
The arrival of Death and Life-in-Death is a symbolic event described as a supernatural one. A ship would not normally travel with tattered sails and a skeleton-like hull, but we're not in "normal" territory, either. How does the Supernatural Content of Samuel Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
British Literautre: Samuel Coleridge
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Wordsworth and Coleridge wrote poems together and some similar beliefs, but they also had some difference in their writing. Coleridge dealt more with persons and characters supernaturally and romantically, were as Wordsworth excites feelings analogous to the supernatural. The poems that Coleridge wrote also were more real and dealt with things that can happen, even though he does use some supernatural. Wordsworth on the other hand dealt more with just the beauty of nature, death, seasons, Mother Nature, and religion. Coleridge focuses on lively events that include lively people, where Wordsworth deals with the lively nature of nature and with things that are going on around him. Wordsworth wanted people to turn from their inward material selves and get back into nature. Coleridge though did not have this problem with people being material, so he wrote to dive into the shadows of people's minds.
Coleridge wrote his greatest poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' in his fashion of truth with a little supernatural. The supernatural that he uses though are common superstitions that all people of his time held to. One of these would be the fact that hunting the albatross brought the mariner horrible luck and ruined his voyage. In the beginning the sailors believed that this albatross brought them the south wind and were angry when the mariner shot the albatross down with his cross bow. Even though things began to get better the crew begins to thirst and blames the mariner yet again. So the crew makes the mariner wear the albatross around his neck as a reminder of the burden he needs to suffer for killing this bird.
Things begin to get really supernatural now because the crew encounters a ghostly vessel with Death and Night-mare Life-in-Death aboard. These two guests were playing dice for the souls of the crew and death wins the crew. As for the mariner he is won by Life-in-death wins the life of the mariner and she considers this more valuable. This is a fate far worse than death and it is a punishment for killing the albatross. The mariner watches for seven days and nights the curse of his dead crew's corpses.
The supernatural problems do not end there for the mariner because sea creatures begin swimming in the water. For the ancient mariner he believes that his curse is lifted when he spots these creatures and he prays. As he begins to pray the albatross falls from his neck and the guilt is partially gone. Next the bodies of the crew are possessed by good spirits that rise them up and they steer home the ship. The problems are not over though because the ship sinks in a whirlpool, leaving only the mariner behind. He is pulled from the water by a hermit and a pilot, but they mistake him for being dead until he begins to row. The pilots' son begins to laugh saying that the devil knows how to row. As for the mariner the trouble is not over because he must retell his story over and over again, because his agony returns and his heart burns until he tells it again.
'Frost at Midnight' is another great poem written by Samuel Coleridge and a great example of the Romantic Period. Just like most Romantic verse monologues this poem is written in blank verse, unrhymed lines metered in iambic pentameter. Aside from this the poem deals heavily with nature and mainly with the frost outside the window. This frost begins to lull the writer into a dreamlike sense while the rest of his friends sleep.
His daydream brings him back to his childhood but more specifically the bars on his window in school. As the writer describes his surroundings you can hear the faint chiming of the bells as they ring throughout the town. This ability to entice the senses is a major part of the Romantic tradition especially for Wordsworth and Coleridge. Both these men write in a way that brings not only nature but the mood of the poem come off the page.
Some strong Romantic traditions that can be found in the poem are things such as the nature of the imagination. Another thing is the relationship between the children and the natural world. This is evident in his lines about the babe and how it shall wander like a breeze. There is a contrast between the liberating country setting, with the bells and rolling hills, and the city that is so structured. Lastly is the relationship between adulthood and childhood as it is linked to adult memories. You get this sense that as the writer begins to drift off to sleep that he is becoming like the sleeping babe next to him.Mariner identify Death and his mate so quickly? Supernatural is often used interchangeably with preternatural or paranormal. It refers to conscious magical, religious or unknown forces that cannot ordinarily be perceived except through their effects. Unlike natural forces, these putative supernatural forces can not be shown to exist by the scientific method. Supernatural claims assert phenomena beyond the realm of current scientific understanding, which are often in direct conflict with current scientific theory.
This essay will discuss the supernatural and uncanny as they have been recurrent themes among the romantic writing. The discussion will start by Hoffman's: "The Sandman". Then it will focus on Coleridge: "The Ancient Mariner" to specify the supernatural and uncanny elements in each of them. After that, there will be a comparison between the two, and how the different genres have a bearing on how the treatment of the topic differs.
In Coleridge's poem "the Rime of the Ancient Mariner" the supernatural is obviously appeared. While the uncanny has appeared in Hoffman's the "Sandman". "Supernatural is an event consider as out of nature, something beyond human realization. Supernatural is Belonging or relating to or being phenomena that cannot be explained by the laws of nature or physics. WhereasDescription of Supernatural Elements in Coleridge’s Poem
Name : Thakar Aneri R.
Roll No. : 01
Semester : 02
M.A. Part : 1
Paper No. : 5 Romantic literature
Topic Name : Description of Supernatural Elements in
Coleridge’s Poem
Description of Supernatural Elements in Coleridge’s Poem
S.T.Coleridge is the greatest English poet of supernatural. Imagination is controlled by thought and study. He has employed refined, suggestive and psychological methods of mystery and horror in the poem. Supernatural is often used interchangeable with preternatural or paranormal.It refers to conscious magical religious or unknown forces that cannot ordinarily perceived except through their effect. Unlike natural forces, these putative supernatural forces can’t be shown to exist by the scientific method. Supernatural claims assert phenomena beyond the relam of current scientific understanding which are often in direct conflict with current scientific theory.
Coleridge was consider to be a note worth poet of 18th century.Coleridge‘s poetic career is a very short one. Yet he has given very remarkable poems. In 1796 he published his first volume of poems on various subjects Coleridge’s best works are mainly of two
1 -Supernatural poems
2 -Samuel Taylor Coleridge conversational poems
(1 )Supernatural poems:-Like ‘Kubla khan’, ‘The Rime of Ancient mariner’ and ‘christable’. These timeless poems are excellent example of romantic imagination.
(2)Conversational poems:-Like “A frost at midnight and Dejection –“an ode” reveals reflective side of his disposition
Coleridge as a poet of Supernatural
Coleridge’s most outstanding contribution to romantic to romantic poetry is his treatment of the supernatural. When Coleridge and words worth wrote the “Lyrical Ballads”, Coleridge took the supernatural as his field and undertook to naturalize it. At hand is no any finer dreamer in English verse than Coleridge. His high Supernatural imagination is controlled by thought and study. Coleridge is co-founder of Romantic Movement with words worth .so, as words worth is a nature poet, Coleridge is known for his supernaturalism
Let’s discuss Coleridge as a poet of supernatural by his poems like “Kubla Khan” and “The Rim of Ancient marine”
Supernatural elements in “Kubla khan”
Kubla Khan is the product of sheer fancy. It is a dream poem, a poem of pure magic. It is one of Coleridge’s three master pieces of supernatural poetry. The atmosphere of supernatural mystery is created in Kubla Khan mint by the description of the pleasure dome and the surrounding in which it stood
Kubla Khan is a product of pure fury, a work of sheer imagination. And is therefore a wholly Romantic composition. A reader with a rational or a neo-classical spirit would perhaps fail to find any meaning. Or logic or thought in this poem but to a romantic reader, the poem is a source of intense pleasure and wonder. Kubla Khan is delightful blend of imagination, emotion mystery sensuousness, romantic description, sweet melody and exquisite diction.
Kubla Khan is a poem of pure magic. It is one of Coleridge‘s three master pieces of supernatural poetry, and the other two are “Christabel” and “The Rim of Ancient mariner”. Through the use of vivid imagery Coleridge reproduces a paradise like vision of the landscape and kingdom created by Kubla Khan.
The atmosphere of supernatural mystery is created in Kubla Khan mainly by a description of the pleasure dome and the surrounding in which it stood. “For instance, the river Alpha flowing through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea.” The immeasurable abysses and the sunless sea stir in our mind the feeling of mystery and even fear.
Then comes the deep romantic gorge which lay across a wood of cedar trees. The manner in which the water intermittently gushed forth from the spring, throwing up huge place of rock were breathing in fast, thick plants is staggering to the readers imagination. The atmosphere of mystery and fear is emphasized when another reference is made to the sunless sea or the lifeless ocean in to which the water of alpha falls with a loud roar. The whole of this description is awe-inspiring if not horrifying.
It should be noted that suggestiveness is a very important ingredient of Coleridge’s supernaturalism. Nor should we forget the closing lines which contain a picture of natural and the supernatural. A poet’s inspiration is of the well-known and natural facts of human life but there is something supernatural about the way in which this poetic inspiration and the creative power of a poet are depicted!
“And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His fleshing eyes, his floating hair!
weave a circle round him thrice and
Close eyes with holy dread for him on
Honey – drew hath fed and drunk the
Milk of paradise.”
Every line here emphasizes the atmosphere of mystery and fear which is the key note of the poem. And yet the whole desiccation is psychologically accurate because when the poet is in the state of frenzy is really a magician: touches of realism indeed, have been added, even to the description of the chasm and mighty fountain. The two similes-rebounding hails and the chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s fail-are drawn from actual life and are the most realistic. Even in the mid of his far of, divorced from life description, Coleridge does not forget that his real purpose was to make the supernatural and to bring about that “willing suspension of disbelief which constitutes
poetic faith”.
Kubla Khan is triumph of supernaturalism. It transforms the world of everyday life in to world of enchantment. Indeed, this poem ranks as a master piece of supernaturalism. In the poem the images which had been deposited the unconscious mind of Coleridge from his reading about subteraneam rivers, pleasures; places and others marvelous things, emerged to his conscious mind and were exposed immediately and spontaneously in words. The caverns measureless to man, the romantic chasm the intermittent burst of water from the fountain, the sunless sea, they all create a world of wonder and enchantment. The atmosphere of strangeness and mystery has effetely and skillful been created in the poem.
Indeed, this poem ranks as a master piece of supernaturalism and is one of the three poems which brought the name of Coleridge to the forefront of the greatest English poets.
Kubla Khan is his master piece of poem of supernaturalism the description of a Dom “pleasure Dom” and how he take a support to this Dom to create his own Dom. the description of his Dom is very beautiful and it create its magical effect on reader.
The greatness of S.T. Coleridge’s the Ancient mariner lies chiefly in the technique by which the supernatural has been made believed and convincible. There are a number of impossible, incredible, and fantastic situation in the poem. The fascinating power in mariner’s gaze. The sudden appearance of the mysterious skeleton ship the specter –woman and her mate, the coming back to life to the dead crew, the sudden sinking of the ship, the polar spirits talking to each other-all these and others supernatural incidents are scattered in the poem. With these supernatural elements the poet has artistically inter woven convincing pictures of nature like the sun shining brightly at the outset, the mist and snow surrounding the ship, the freezing cold of the artic region, slimy creatures creeping upon the sea, the moon going up the sky with a star or two beside it, the water snakes moving in the water in a variety of colors. The natural and supernatural the real and fantastic, the possible ad the impossible have been so skillfully and artistically mingled that the whole strikes us as quite convincing and credible.
The setting of the poem is natural, known to all. With a view to giving his stories an air of Plausibility, Coleridge gives accurate. Description of his nature. In the am every phase of landscape, seascape and cloudscape is touched upon. The bright sun, the “Kirk” or church the hill the light house, the cheerful on lookers at the harbor the wedding guest the marriage ceremony, the sun storm blast in the sea the mist and snow of the arctic region and many other natural elements are there in the setting of the story. All these phenomena have been made very convincing.
In this natural setting are set the supernatural incidents. A terrible storm hit and forced the ship south wards. The “storm blast” was “tyrannous and strong” and struck the ship with over taking wings”. Then the sailors reached a clam patch of sea that was “wondrous cold” full of snow and “glistering green iceberg” as tall as the ship’s mast.
The Ancient mariner is a tale of a curse which the narrator, the mariner himself and his companions by killing an Albatross without reason. Coleridge’s power of handling the supernatural is like the pure music of his verse. The moral of the poem is one of all embracing love. This poem is full of moral teachings for human beings. Humphrey house expresses his agreements with three great critics, DR.Tillyard, DR.Bowra and Robert Penn warren that the
poem has a very serious moral and spiritual on human life. The moral of the poem’s story is that one should love all God’s creatures. Coleridge is regarded as the greatest poet of the supernatural in English literature and the ancient mariner is regarded as a master piece of supernatural poetry. His supernatural is controlled by thought and study. cazamian says, “the very center of Coleridge art lies in his faculty of evoking the mystery of things, and making it actual, widespread, and obsessing, even better than words worth, he knows how to handle that species of the supernatural whose essence is entirely psychological…….. The supernatural element in the ancient mariner
is a hallucination, the outcome of the remorse by the most sober of method”.
His skill in dealing with the supernatural in this poem is two-fold: first, he has fully achieved his aim of making the supernatural appear to be natural; and, second, he has employed suggestive, psychological, and refined methods of producing the feelings of mystery and horror in the poem, not crude and sensational like that of the writers before him, i.e. Horace, Walpole Mrs. Radcliffe, and Monk Lewis. The greatness of the Ancient mariner lies chiefly in the technique by which the supernatural has been made believable and convincing. There are, no doubt a number of impossible, incredible, and fantastic situation in the poem, such as: the mesmeric power in the mariner’s gaze. The sudden appearance of the mysterious skeleton ship ,the specter woman and her mate, the coming back to life of the dead crew, the seraph-band making signals to the land, the sudden sinking of the ship, and the polar spirit commenting on or influencing the course of events. But the supernatural phenomena that the whole looks real. The sun shining brightly at the outset the mist and snow the freezing cold of the Polar Regions, the floating ice bergs floating in the water, the torrid fierceness of stagnant water. The slimy things crawling on the sea, the moon going up the scythe roaring wind, the rainfall-such are the natural phenomena in the poem. The realistic effect is enhanced by a description of the state of mind of the ancient mariner: that is how he tried to pray but he could not, how lonely he felt on a wide sea how he wanted to die but in vain, how he suffered mental and spirituals anguish.
This psychological study of the mariner adds to the realistic effect because we are made to feel that any man would suffer in the same way under similar circumstances. Again, the details of the ship’s voyage have such a diary-like air that we accept them as a faithful recording of facts, there is too, the logic of cause and effect in the poem. The punishment and torture have a convincing cause behind them. The realistic effect achieved by Coleridge. The poem is one his great achievement which makes the poem not only convincing and exciting but also in some sense a criticism of life. There are a large number of situations and episodes in the ancient mariner, which fill us either with a sense of mystery or a feeling of horror or with both. The first situation that strikes terror in the heart of the mariner (and the reader also) is the appearance of the skeleton-ship. When this skeleton-ship is sighted in the distance, the sailors feel happy to think that they will now get water to quench their burning thirst. But in a few moments they discover the reality of this ship.
The description of the ship with its “ribs” and its “gossamer-like sails” fill us with terror. It is a strange mystery that the ship should sail on the sea without wind and without a tide, while the mariner’s ship stands still “like a painted shop upon a painted ocean”. Obviously it is a supernatural force, which drives the ship and the crew also consists of supernatural characters. The feeling of terror is heightened when a reference is made to the crew of this ship. The crew consists of death and life-in-death. But Coleridge creates the sense of horror in this poem not by describing a direct and crude description but by employing suggestive and psychological methods. For instance, he does not describe the physical features of the specter woman and her death mate or other external phenomena at length, but he simply portrays the effect of those external things on the mariner’s mind. The appearance of life-in-death is described in the following three lines: her lips were red, her looks were free, her looks were yellow as gold: her skin was as white as leprosy (lines-190-92)these three lines are followed by these two: the night-mare life-in-death was she, who thick man’s blood with cold Coleridge, after giving us only three
lines of description, conveys the horror by saying that the sight of her would have the effect of freezing a man’s blood. In other words, he leaves it to us to imagine for our-selves the horrible appearance of life-in-death that personifies the unspeakable torture of a man who can’t die. Coleridge merely offers a few suggestions to be developed by the reader himself. The effect of the skeleton-ship with death and life-in-death on board again conveyed to us by the following two lines
“Fear in my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip"!
That is, instead of giving us a detailed description of the whole horrible sight, Coleridge refers to the effect of that horrible sight upon the mind of the mariner and says that fear sipped his life-blood. Another situation that produces horror in the poem is the death of the two hundred sailors who dropped down one by one, and each of them looked at the ancient mariner. Use of Supernatural Elements in Coleridge's 'The Ancient Mariner'
The greatness of S. T. Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner lies chiefly in the technique by which the supernatural has been made believable and convincing. There are a number of impossible, incredible, and fantastic situations in the poem. The fascinating power in Mariner’s gaze, the sudden appearance of the mysterious skeleton ship, the spectre- woman and her mate, the coming back of life to the dead crew, the sudden sinking of the ship, the polar spirits talking to each other- all these and other supernatural incidents are scattered in the poem. With these supernatural elements the poet has artistically interwoven convincing pictures of Nature like the sun shining brightly at the outset, the mist and snow surrounding the ship, the freezing cold of the Artic region, slimy creatures creeping upon the sea, the moon going up the sky with a star or two beside it, the water snakes moving in the water in a variety of colors. The natural and supernatural, the real and fantastic, the possible ad the impossible have been so skillfully and artistically mingled that the whole strikes us as quite convincing and credible.
The setting of the poem is natural, known to all. With a view to giving his story an air of plausibility, Coleridge gives accurate description of his nature. In the AM every phase of landscape, seascape and cloudscape is touched upon. The bright sun, the “Kirk” or church, the hill, the lighthouse, the cheerful onlookers at the harbor, the wedding guest, the marriage ceremony, the storm blast in the sea, the mist and snow of the Arctic region and many other natural elements are there in the setting of the story. All these natural phenomena have been made very convincing.
In this natural setting are set the supernatural incidents. A terrible storm hit and forced the ship southwards. The “storm blast” was “tyrannous and strong’ and struck the ship with”overtaking wings”. Then the sailors reached a calm patch of sea that was “wondrous cold” full of snow and glistering green icebergs” as tall as the ship’s mast.
And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold
The sailors were the only living things in this frightening, enclosed world where the ice made terrible groaning sounds that echoed all around.
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!
In his Ancient Mariner, Coleridge often blends the real and unreal in order to create a supernatural world. Here we see the story at first is given a known, familiar setting but soon it passes into an unreal world. The reader is not disturbed by this smooth transition from the real to the unreal world but indulges himself in the “willing
suspension of disbelief.”
However, finally an albatross emerged from the mist, and the sailors received it as a sign of good luck, as though it were a “Christian soul” sent by God to save them. No sooner than the sailors fed the albatross did the ice break apart, allowing the captain to steer out of the freezing world. The wind picked up again and continued for nine days. All the while the bird followed the ship, ate the food the sailors gave it and played with them. But at this favorable moment the mariner did a hellish thing. He shot the bird with his cross bow.
From the moment the mariner kills the bird retribution comes in the form of natural phenomena. The wind dies, the sun intensifies and it will not rain. The ocean becomes “revolting”, “rotting” and “thrashing” with “slimy” creatures and sizzling with strange fires.
Coleridge depicts tactfully how nature punishes supernaturally for killing its innocent member. Before the sun was “bright” but now it has become “the bloody sun.” in a “hot and copper sky.”
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
The nature continues punishing the mariners. The wind refuses to blow, and the sun’s relentless heat chars the men.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breathe nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean
This hot sun makes the mariners thirsty but they have no drinkable water.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
The mariner lives like Tantalus. They need water badly and it is all around them but it is entirely undrinkable. The throats became “unslaked” and “lips baked” under the hot sun.
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.
The shipmates, in their sore distress, throw the whole guilt on the ancient Mariner and in sign they hang the dead sea-bird round his neck.
‘Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung’.
The time is weary and long. They have nothing to do but suffer only.
A weary time ! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye,
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
A mysterious ship arrives. When the ship is sighted in the distance, the sailors feel happy to think that the will now get water to quench their burning thirst.
‘I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail ! a sail’!
But in a few moments they discover the reality of the ship. The crew consists of Death and Life- in- death.
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
Coleridge beautifully depicts the mental suffering of the Mariner under this condition-:
“Fear at my heart, as at a cup
My life blood seemed to sip”.
The suffering becomes even more painful when all his fellow men dropped down one by one. And the soul of each passes by him with the sound like that of his arrow that killed the Albatross.
“They dropped down one by one”.
For seven days and nights the mariner remained alone on the ship.
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
The dead sailors, who miraculously did not rot, continued to curse him with their open eyes which intensified his inner guilt.
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,
And yet I could not die.
His surroundings- the ship, the ocean, and the creatures within it are “rotting’ in the heat and sun, but he is the one who is rotten on the inside.
Coleridge beautifully portrays how he suffer from acute mental distress when he tried to pray but could not do so, how he felt the horror of the curse in the dead men’s eyes, how the sky and the sea lay like a heavy load on his weary eyes, and how finally he felt relief. This is exactly what any man would suffer under similar circumstances. By portraying mariner’s mental states, Coleridge produces the realistic effect.
During his lonely days he spent his times by watching the little creatures on the ice. The mariner spontaneously recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes, his heart fills with love for them and he can bless them “unaware”
“A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware”
Only when the mariner is able to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, he is granted the ability to pray. The moment he begins to view the natural world benevolently, his spiritual thirst is quenched. As a sign, the albatross- the burden of sin falls from his neck.
‘The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea’.
It finally rains and his thrust is quenched.
‘My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank”
The ship suddenly began to move towards the native land of the old sailor. Ultimately the ship reached near the harbor. It sank suddenly and the old sailor was rescued from the disaster.
Thus from the above discussion it is quite clear that, the triumph of “The rime of the ancient Mariner” confines in presenting a series of incredible events in a convincing and credible way by the use of natural setting, logic of cause and effect, melody and psychological truth.
During his lonely days he spent his times by watching the little creatures on the ice. The mariner spontaneously recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes, his heart fills with love for them and he can bless them “unaware” Only when the mariner is able to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, he is granted the ability to pray. The moment he begins to view the natural world benevolently, his spiritual thirst is quenched. As a sign, the albatross- the burden of sin falls from his neck. It finally rains and his thrust is quenched. The ship suddenly began to move towards the native land of the old sailor. Ultimately the ship reached near the harbor. It sank suddenly and the old sailor was rescued from the disaster.
Thus from the above discussion it is quite clear that, the triumph of “The rime of the ancient Mariner” confines in presenting a series of incredible events in a convincing and credible way by the use of natural setting, logic of cauThe Ancient Mariner is the story of a real-life sea voyage pervaded by a supernatural atmosphere. There is an eeriness in the hypnotic eyes of the Mariner, the spectral ship with Death and nightmare Life-in Death as its crew dicing on the deck, the winds that sound but never come near, the Polar spirit, the angelic spirits entering the corpses of the mariners and activating them, and the Mariner's ship sinking mysteriously with a thundering sound coming from under the water. Terror is produced by Coleridge's ability to provide visual descriptions of striking vividness.
The story with its supernatural trappings is obviously incredible, but within this framework there is the human reality.
"God save thee, ancient mariner
From the fiends that plague you thus."
Here Coleridge vividly presents the supernatural issues by dwelling upon the hideous contortions on the face of the Mariner. And it is by drawing our attention to the terror-stricken feelings manifested on his face that the poet convinces us of the reality of the experience. We would certainly refuse to accept the supernatural details as real, but there is no mistaking the downright inevitable gush of frightful feelings and sensations evoked by the supernatural powers, as when the Mariner says
"Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life blood seemed to sip."
The feelings evoked are very much real. Coleridge's treatment of the supernatural is, therefore, psychological.
The Ancient Mariner thus fulfils Coleridge's part of the joint bargain in Lyrical Ballads - to treat subjects "supernatural or at least romantic", but to make them credible by truth to human nature and feeling, so as to
cause "that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment that constitutes poetic faith."
The influence of the supernatural has been brought to bear not only on human nature but on phenomenal Nature also. Coleridge makes the natural seem supernatural by ascribing to Nature something of the special power and
proficiency of the supernatural. The storm in part V is like a fantastic death's dance. The tropical sunset comes rushing with a single gigantic stride. Even the ice has got a terrific presence:
"It creaked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound."
The persistence of natural laws in the midst of the supernatural convulsions helps us to retain our grip over reality. And, of course, the figure of the wedding guest is a permanent link with the world of reality.
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