✦ POETRY SPOTLIGHT
Literary analysis ✦
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
S.T. Coleridge (1772—1834)
Argument
It is an ancient Mariner, And he stoppeth one of three.'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
PART I
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
[ STANZA 1 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Meter: Ballad Meter (Alternating iambic tetrameter & trimeter)
Note: The Mariner abruptly stops one of three wedding guests.
Paraphrase:An ancient Mariner stopped one of the three guests invited to a wedding. The guest was bewitched by the long grey beard and the shining eyes of the Mariner. But he did not like being interrupted and asked the Mariner why he had been detained.
The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
May'st hear the merry din.'
[ STANZA 2 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Speaker: The Wedding Guest
Words meaning: kin - Relatives, din - weding musics
Context: Explains his urgency to join the wedding feast.
Paraphrase:He said that the doors.of the bridegroom's house were wide open.
He being closely related to the bridegroom was expected to reach there
very soon. The guests had already, arrived there. The feast was set. The
noise of merry-making could be heard even from where they were
standing
He holds him with his skinny hand,
'There was a ship,' quoth he.
'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!'
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.
[ STANZA 3 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: Eftsoons - immediately
Tone: With same style Mariner abruptly begins his story. It is a kind of Conflict between physical restraint and verbal protest.
Paraphrase:The Mariner held him with his skinny hand and abruptly started
relating bis story with 'There was a ship' But this irritated the Wedding-
guest. He called him a grey-beard rogue and steraly demanded to be
released. At this, the Mariner at once let his hand go.
He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years' child:
The Mariner hath his will.
[ STANZA 4 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: Still - tranquil/calm.
Paraphrase: But now the Mariner held him spell-bound with the magic of his
glittering eyes. The Wedding-guest just could not move. Now he heard
him as willingly as a three-year old child. He had been completely
overpowered by the Mariner.
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
[ STANZA 5 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Wedding-guest sat down on a stone, Now he had no choice but to listen to the Mariner's tale. The bright-eyed Mariner, then started telling his story.
'The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.
[ STANZA 6 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: harbour - ships station, Merrily- happily, drop- move, kirk- Church.
Paraphrase: As their ship set sail, the people assembled on the shore, gave them a hearty send-off. Soon the ship got cleared of the harbour. They sailed away merrily leaving behind the church, the hill, and the top of the lighthouse. These objects gradually disappeared one after the other.
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.
[ STANZA 7 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Detail: he is referred to "the Sun. Personified as living bing.
Paraphrase: The sun rose on their left (it means the ship was sailing southward) It seemed to be rising out of the sea. It shone brightly during the day and LA set in the west in the evening. It seemed to be sinking into the sea on their shnadic dr right.
Higher and higher every day,
Till over the mast at noon—'
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon.
[ STANZA 8 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: bassoon- musical instruments.
Paraphrase: Everyday, the sun went higher and higher till at noon it stood right over the mast....But here the Mariner's story was interr upted because the Wedding-guest had beard a bassoon being played in the bridegroom's house and then he had started loudly protesting against being detained there. T
The bride hath paced into the hall,
Red as a rose is she;
Nodding their heads before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.
[ STANZA 9 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: minstrelsy- wedding musicians.
Paraphrase: The sound of the bassoon indicated that the bride had walked into As the hall. She was beautiful as a red rose. She followed a band of musicians who nodded their heads cheerfully as they moved.
The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
[ STANZA 10 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Context: hypnotic state of wedding guest to whom no other choice but to hear the story.
Paraphrase: The Wedding-guest cursed himself. He was impatient to leave. But he ad no choice but to listen to the Mariner. The old Mariner with shining eyes continued his story.
And now the STORM-BLAST came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong:
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,
And chased us south along.
[ STANZA 11 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: And then a ferocious STORM-BLAST overtook them. It struck the ship with all its wild force and drove the ship to the south
With sloping masts and dipping prow,
As who pursued with yell and blow
Still treads the shadow of his foe,
And forward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,
And southward aye we fled.
[ STANZA 12 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: prow- fore part of the ship,foe- enmy
Paraphrase: As the storn drove the ship in the southern direction, its masts sloped and its prow almost dipped into the sea. The ship appeared like a person running with his head bent before an enemy chasing him closely and shouting at him. Thus, the ship kept fleeing southwards.
And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.
[ STANZA 13 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: emerald- precious stone.
Paraphrase: Now the ship reached the region where there was mist and haze. It also grew intensely cold. Mast-bigh ice-bergs shining like the green emerald, came floating near the ship.
And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—
The ice was all between.
[ STANZA 14 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: dismal sheen- gloomy brightness.
Paraphrase: They could see the dull light of snow-cappcd clifts through the drifts of snow. But neither a human figure nor a beast WaS to be seen anywhere. There was nothing but snow 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!
[ STANZA 15 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: There was nothing but ice on all sides. Sometimes, the ice split producing various sounds. Sometimes the sound was like that of cracking and growling. At other times it was a loud howling sound. These sounds were like confused noises heard in a swoon.
At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.
[ STANZA 16 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: At length - at least(अंततः),hailed- welcomed
Paraphrase: At last an Albatross appeared through the fog. In God's name, they warmly greeted it. They welcomed it as if it were a Christian soul.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!
[ STANZA 17 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: thunder-fit - thunder sound, helmsman - Ship's driver, steered - drove/ lead/directed.
Paraphrase: The Albatross ate the strange food that the sailors gave it. After eating the food, it would hover round the ship. The ice split with ed thundering sound and the helmsman steered the ship through the crack thus produced.
And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo!
[ STANZA 18 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: hollo- voice.
Paraphrase: Now a favourable south wind began to blow at their back. The Albatross still followed the ship. Everyday it responded to their call either to take food from their hands or to play with them.
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white Moon-shine.'
'God save thee ancient Mariner!
From the fiends,that plague thee thus!-
Why look'st thou so?' - with my cross - bow
I shot the ALBATROSS.
[ STANZA 19 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: vespers nine- nine evening,fiends - witch/ghost.
Paraphrase: The Albatross would come and sit on the mast or the sails at the time of the evening prayer. This continued for nine days. During this period, the moon shone dimly through the white smoke of the fog.
At this moment, the ancient Mariner looked horror-stricken. The Wedding-guest prayed that God might have mercy on him and protect him from the devils that tortured him in that manner. He asked the Mariner why he looked thus. The Mariner simply replied, "I shot the Albatross with my cross-bow."
PART II
The Sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.
[ STANZA 1 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Sun now rose out of the sea on the right side of the ship. It was hidden in mist all day. In the evening it sank into the sea on their left.
And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariner's hollo!
[ STANZA 2 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: hollo- voice/chattering sounds.
Paraphrase: The favourable south wind still blew, pushing the ship northward. But the sweet bird who used to come to them everyday either for food or for playing with them was no longer following them.
And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!
[ STANZA 3 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: woe- miseries, averred- said.
Paraphrase: All the shipmates of the ancient Mariner condemned his action of killing the Albatross. They said thaf he had done a devilish thing and it would bring them misfortune. They said that he had killed the bird of good omen who had caused the favourable wind to blow. They declared the Mariner a wretched being for having killed the Albatross.
Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
The glorious Sun uprist:
Then all averred, I had killed the bird
That brought the fog and mist.
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
That bring the fog and mist.
[ STANZA 4 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: uprist- risen, averred- said.
Paraphrase: But now the bright Sun rose, neither dim nor red, but luminous and glorious like the haloed head of Jesus Christ. The sailors declared that the Mariner had done the right thing by killing the bird that had brought fog and mist. They said that it was right that such birds as brought fog and mist should be killed.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
[ STANZA 5 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: silent sea- Pacific Ocean (प्रशांत महासागर)
Paraphrase: A favourable gentle wind blew. The white foam flew off from the surface of the ocean. The ship sailed onward calmly, and the track made by it was clearly visible. It seemed to them that they were the first people who had ever come to that silent sea.
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
[ STANZA 6 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Paraphrase: The wind stopped blowing. The sails too dropped. There was complete silence all around. It was a very sad situation. The silence of the sea was broken only by the sailors' talk, and they only talked so that they might break the silence of the sea.
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
[ STANZA 7 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase : The sky looked like heated copper. The sun looked blood red. Even at noon, it stood vertically above the mast and looked as small as the moon.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
[ STANZA 8 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: beath- wind blow,idle- motionless.
Paraphrase: The ship remained stuck at one place day after day. It did not move because there was neither wind nor tide. It looked just like the painted picture of a ship on the sea.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
[ STANZA 9 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: And- yet.
Paraphrase: Though the ship was surrounded by water on all sides yet the very boards of the ship began to crack and shrink because of the excessive heat. They were in the midst of so much water, but there wasn't even a drop they could drink.
The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea.
[ STANZA 10 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The sea itself began to rot. Very repulsive sea-creatures could be seen crawling with their ugly legs on the sticky and glue-like water of the sea. It was a horrible sight to see. They remarked that Lord Jesus should save everyone from such a ghastly situation.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue and white.
[ STANZA 11 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: 'about, about'- all around.
Paraphrase: Death-fires shone all about them at night. Their luminous lights appeared to be dancing and wheeling around the ship. The sea-water burnt like the oils burnt by a witch emitting multi-coloured lights.
And some in dreams assurèd were
Of the Spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow.
[ STANZA 12 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: dreams assurèd - deeply concerned.
Paraphrase: Some of the sailors had a dream that they were being avenged by a spirit that had been following their ship from the land of mist and snow. It had been moving all the while nine fathom deep in the water.
And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.
[ STANZA 13 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Paraphrase: For utter want of water, the sailors' tongues dried up at the very root. They just could not speak. They felt as if their throats had been choked with soot.
Ah! well a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
[ STANZA 14 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase : Alas! the sailors looked at the Mariner reproachfully. They could not speak, but their looks revealed the contempt they felt for him. They removed the cross-bow from round his neck, and hung the dead Albatross there.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
PART III
There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parched, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye,
[ STANZA 1 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning:parched- drought.
Paraphrase: They passed a very difficult time. Their throats were dry. Their eyes had a glossy appearance. Just then the ancient Mariner looked towards the west and saw some object near the horizon. But he could not distinctly make out what that object was.
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
[ STANZA 2 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.
[ STANZA 3 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: speck- spot/point.
Paraphrase: At first it appeared to be only a dot. Gradually, it became bigger and looked like a patch of mist. It kept on approaching the ship, till, the Mariner felt, it took a more definite shape.
A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.
[ STANZA 4 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning wist- know, dodged-move quickly in order to avoid somebody/something.
Paraphrase: The Mariner had seen it first as a dot, then as a patch of mist, and finally, as something having a definite shape, though still not very clear about what shape it actually had. And all the time, it came nearer and nearer. It also kept on changing its course, as if it were trying to avoid some spirit of the water that was following it.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
We could nor laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood!
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! a sail!
[ STANZA 5 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: throats unslaked- drought throat, baked-roasted,wail-weep/cry
Paraphrase: On account of intense heat and thirst, their throats were dry and their lips were parched. They could neither laugh nor cry. They had been rendered speechless by utter drought. The ancient Mariner slaked his throat by biting his arm, and sucking his own blood. Then he cried out that he could see a ship approaching them.
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in.
As they were drinking all.
[ STANZA 6 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: Gramercy- great mercy.
Paraphrase: The shipmates' throats were also parched and their lips were dried with thirst. They heard his shout with surprise. Then they thanked God and grinned to express their joy. They drew in their breath as if they were already drinking water.
See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more!
Hither to work us weal;
Without a breeze, without a tide,
She steadies with upright keel!
[ STANZA 7 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: weal- happiness, tide- waves/current
Paraphrase: The ancient Mariner pointed out to his companions that the ship had become steady. It was gradually approaching them and would bring them help. It was strange that though there was neither tide nor wind yet the ship was sailing steadily on.
The western wave was all a-flame.
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright Sun;
When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the Sun.
[ STANZA 8 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Paraphrase: The day was almost over. The horizon in the west was lit up with the crimson rays of the Sun. The broad bright Sun appeared to be resting on the western horizon. Just then the mysterious thing appeared and stood between the Sun and their ship.
And straight the Sun was flecked with bars,
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!)
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered
With broad and burning face.
[ STANZA 9 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: flecked- doted,peered(झाँकना)
Paraphrase: And immediately the Sun appeared to be streaked with lines. The broad and crimson red Sun appeared to be peeping through the iron bars of a prison-window. The mariners prayed to Virgin Mary to have mercy on them.
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?
[ STANZA 10 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Device: ship is personified as living entity(she/her)
Words meaning: gossameres- a biblical reference " heaven journey by mother marry. Here, It also seems as spider's net work as metaphorical.
Paraphrase: The skeleton ship was now approaching them fast. The ancient Mariner's heart began to beat violently to see it approaching them. He was greatly surprised to see that its sails looked like cobwebs floating in the air and shining in the light of the Sun.
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?
Is DEATH that woman's mate?
[ STANZA 11 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning: grate- jail type gate, on the second ship two member (1) Death, (2) life-in-death. In this Poem,further stanzas same two entities used as justice and pity/mercy.
Paraphrase: The ancient Mariner looked with horror at the ribs of the ship, for they seemed to be like the bars of a prison, and the Sun looked like a prisoner peeping from behind these iron bars. He saw just one woman on the ship and wondered if she was the only crew. Then he noticed another figure. The first figure looked like the spirit of death. He wondered if the second figure was her mate.
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
[ STANZA 12 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Option / Detail 1: Enter your detail here
Words meaning : leprosy- Hansen's disease(something related to पीलीया type.
Paraphrase: The woman's lips were red; her hair was golden yellow; and she had very bold, audacious looks. Her skin was as white as that of a person struck with leprosy. That horrible woman was Life-in-Death. She was a nightmare personified and was capable of thickening any man's blood.
The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice;
'The game is done! I've won! I've won!'
Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
[ STANZA 13 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: naked hulk- Dismantled ship,thrice- again mysterious number used to show that something is closely related to ghosty things happening,casting dice - playing dice game in order to win the situation by two entities "Death,life-in-death". And the game is won by LIFE-IN-DEATH,latterly is called Pity.
Paraphrase: At last the skeleton ship came by the side of their own ship. Then the ancient Mariner saw that the two figures were playing at dice. Life-in-Death exclaimed that the game was over and that she had won. She whistled thrice out of joy.
The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out;
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea,
Off shot the spectre-bark.
[ STANZA 14 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: Sun's rim- sun ray's,off shot- disappeared.
it is depiction of deep night at middist of sea where the Mariner got stuck by the spell of ocean spirit.
Paraphrase: The sun sank down below the horizon. The stars appeared in the sky almost abruptly. It was immediately dark. The spectre ship disappeared. The whisper like sound with which it withdrew could be heard in the distance.
We listened and looked sideways up!
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip!
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;
[ STANZA 15 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Word meaning : thick night- deep night.
Paraphrase: They listened to this sound and looked sideways. The ancient Mariner was overwhelmed with fear. He felt as if fear were draining away his life-blood, just as a man might drain away the drink in a cup. The stars were dim and the night was very dark. In the light of the lamp, the face of the helmsman looked pale. The dew drops fell from the sails. At last they saw the crescent moon rising above the horizon. It had one bright star within its lower end.
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
From the sails the dew did drip—
Till clomb above the eastern bar
The hornèd Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
[ STANZA 16 ANALYSIS / NOTES
Words meaning: honrnéd moon -(crescent moon🌙🌟) in Christianity it is the symond of something bod happening omens. Here, the chasing stare to moon is known as dogged star. And completely known as star-dogged Moon.
Paraphrase: In the light of the Moon, closely followed by a star, the ancient Mariner saw his fellow sailors drop down dead one by one. They died so quickly that they could not utter a groan or heave a sigh. However, just as they died, they cast at him a painful glance and cursed him with their eyes.
One after one, by the star-dogged Moon,
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.
[ STANZA 17 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Star-dogged moon : by this one by one all ship mates died,except the old Mariner to whom the life-in-death won.He just left to see the pain of dying in living.
Paraphrase: By the ominous leading indications, sailors given to old Mariner as ghostly looks and cursed him with painful and restless eyes and one by one died.
Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down one by one.
[ STANZA 18 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: heavy thump- loud noise like धड़ाम, lump- body.
Paraphrase: The number of crewmembers on ship - four times fifty living man :( 4x50=200 Two) hundred living men dropped down dead one by one with a dull heavy sound, and the Mariner could hear neither a sigh nor a groan.
The souls did from their bodies fly,—
They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul, it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my cross-bow!
[ STANZA 19 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Words meaning: bliss or woe!- heaven or hell!, whizz,hissing sound when something passes by nearly too rapidly.
Paraphrase: Their souls fled from their bodies to go to—the ancient Mariner was not very sure where—to heaven or hell. As these souls passed by him, they made a hissing sound like the one he had made when he had shot the Albatross with his cross-bow.
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
PART IV
'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
I fear thy skinny hand!
And thou art long, and lank, and brown,
As is the ribbed sea-sand.
[ STANZA 1 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Wedding-guest had all along been listening to the Mariner's story. He felt that it was not the Mariner but his ghost that was speaking to him. This feeling filled him with horror.
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I fear thee and thy glittering eye,
And thy skinny hand, so brown.'—
Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
This body dropt not down.
[ STANZA 2 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He said that he was afraid of him and his skinny hand. He was also afraid of his tall and thin figure, and his wrinkled, dark skin that looked like the rippled, sun-burnt sand on the sea-shore.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.
[ STANZA 3 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase : The Mariner then resumed his story. He said that the rest of the crew being dead, he was the only living person left on board in the vast ocean. He was overcome by a feeling of utter desolation. His soul was in great agony but no saint took pity on him.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.
[ STANZA 4 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: It was painful for the ancient Mariner to see so many beautiful human beings lying dead all around him. But in the sea, thousands of ugly creatures lived on, and like these ugly creatures, he too continued to live.
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I looked upon the rotting sea,
And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.
[ STANZA 5 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He looked on the rotting sea, and unable to stand the distasteful sight, drew his eyes away. Then he looked at the rotting deck. But the deck, littered with dead bodies, presented an equally repelling sight.
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Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
I looked to heaven, and tried to pray;
But or ever a prayer had gusht,
A wicked whisper came, and made
My heart as dry as dust.
[ STANZA 6 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Now the ancient Mariner looked towards the sky and tried to pray to God. But before he could pray, some wicked whisper influenced his heart and made it as dry as dust.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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I closed my lids, and kept them close,
And the balls like pulses beat;
For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
Lay dead like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.
[ STANZA 7 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He closed his eyes and kept them closed till the eyeball beat against his eyes like pulses. It seemed that the sky and the sea lay like a heavy load on his eyes. Still he was afraid to open his eyes because of the dead man lying at his feet.
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The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
Nor rot nor reek did they:
The look with which they looked on me
Had never passed away.
[ STANZA 8 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The dead bodies of the crew transpired. But they did not either rot or give out any foul smell. Their eyes were still open. He left as if the reproachful look with which they had died was still there.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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An orphan's curse would drag to hell
A spirit from on high;
But oh! more horrible than that
Is the curse in a dead man's eye!
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,
And yet I could not die.
[ STANZA 9 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: An orphan's curse can drag an angel from heaven or hell. But the curse in the eyes of a dead man is more horrible than an orphan's curse ever could be. For seven days and seven nights he faced the cursing eyes of his companions, yet he could not die.
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The moving Moon went up the sky,
And no where did abide:
Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside—
[ STANZA 10 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Moon continued moving in the sky, followed by one or two stars, it kept on rising softly
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Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
The charmèd water burnt alway
A still and awful red.
[ STANZA 11 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The moonlight was cool while the sea was very hot. Thus, the cool moonlight seemed to be mocking at the sultry sea. The silver-white moonlight was spread on the surface of the ocean like the hoar-frost of spring. But where the shadow of the ship fell, the water seemed to be under some magic spell, and it burnt with an awful red colour.
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Beyond the shadow of the ship,
I watched the water-snakes:
They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they reared, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.
[ STANZA 12 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He looked beyond the shadow of the ship and saw some water-snakes. As the water-snakes swam, their tracks were lit up by the moonlight, these tracks looked brilliantly white. And when they raised their heads the water falling off their heads looked like flakes of light.
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Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.
[ STANZA 13 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Ancient Mariner looked within the shadow of the ship and saw the beautiful skin of the snakes. They were of all colours—blue, shining green and black like velvet. They made zig-zag movements and the tracks they left behind glowed brightly with golden light.
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O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.
[ STANZA 14 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He felt that these colourful water-snakes whose beauty was beyond description were happy living things. The appreciation of their beauty roused in him sudden tender feelings for them and unconsciously he blessed them. He had been able to bless them perhaps because his guardian-angel had taken pity on him.
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The self-same moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.
[ STANZA 15 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: As soon as he praised their beauty, he was able to pray. And immediately, the Albatross fell from his neck and fell into the sea like some heavy load.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
PART V
Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing,
Beloved from pole to pole!
To Mary Queen the praise be given!
She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven,
That slid into my soul.
[ STANZA 16 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Oh Sleep! it is a great blessing for it soothes and refreshes man. It is loved all over the earth. The Mariner praised Virgin Mary for having sent him the gentle sleep. It entered his soul and he fell asleep.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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The silly buckets on the deck,
That had so long remained,
I dreamt that they were filled with dew;
And when I awoke, it rained.
[ STANZA 17 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He dreamt (during sleep) that the buckets that had remained empty so long were filled with dew. And when he woke up, he found that it had actually been raining.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank;
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,
And still my body drank.
[ STANZA 18 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: His lips were moistened, his throat was cold and his clothes were wet with rain. Surely, he had drunk water in his dreams, and his body absorbed water even now.
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I moved, and could not feel my limbs:
I was so light—almost
I thought that I had died in sleep,
And was a blessed ghost.
[ STANZA 19 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: As he moved, he felt very light. He felt so light, in fact, that he thought he had died in his sleep and was now an emancipated soul living in heaven.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
And soon I heard a roaring wind:
It did not come anear;
But with its sound it shook the sails,
That were so thin and sere.
[ STANZA 20 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Soon after that, he heard the wind roaring at a distance. The wind did not come near, but its sound shook the thin and dry sails of the ship.
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The upper air burst into life!
And a hundred fire-flags sheen,
To and fro they were hurried about!
And to and fro, and in and out,
The wan stars danced between.
[ STANZA 21 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The air in the upper regions showed sudden signs of life. Hundreds of fire-flags, shining and moving to and fro, could also be seen. In between them the pale stars seemed to be dancing.
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And the coming wind did roar more loud,
And the sails did sigh like sedge,
And the rain poured down from one black cloud;
The Moon was at its edge.
[ STANZA 22 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The approaching wind began to roar more loudly. Under its effect, the sails sighed like sedge. Then it rained heavily from a dense dark cloud, at the end of which shone the Moon.
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The thick black cloud was cleft, and still
The Moon was at its side:
Like waters shot from some high crag,
The lightning fell with never a jag,
A river steep and wide.
[ STANZA 23 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The thick dark cloud was rent into two parts, but the moon still stood at its side. Lightning flashed like water falling from a high cliff. As the flash of lightning was continuous, it looked like a wide deep river.
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The loud wind never reached the ship,
Yet now the ship moved on!
Beneath the lightning and the Moon
The dead men gave a groan.
[ STANZA 24 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The howling wind did not reach the ship. I did not press the ship. Still the ship moved on. The Moon shone and lightning flashed. The dead man lying on the deck groaned.
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They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,
Nor spake, nor moved their eyes;
It had been strange, even in a dream,
To have seen those dead men rise.
[ STANZA 25 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The dead men groaned, and then they moved and stood up. They did not speak. They did not move their eyes (their eyes were still fixed on the ancient Mariner). It would have been very strange even in a dream to see these dead men rising back to life.
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The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;
Yet never a breeze up-blew;
The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
Where they were wont to do;
They raised their limbs like lifeless tools—
We were a ghastly crew.
[ STANZA 26 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Still there was no wind blowing. But the helmsman(driver) steered(drived) the ship and it moved on. The mariners began to work the ropes as they used to do. They moved their hands and feet, but their movement was like that of lifeless tools. Now the ship had certainly a ghostly crew.
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The body of my brother's son
Stood by me, knee to knee:
The body and I pulled at one rope,
But he said nought to me.
[ STANZA 27 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase:The body of the Mariner's nephew stood by his side, knee to knee. They were working at the same rope. Yet he did not speak even a single word to the Mariner. He just kept working silently.
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'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!'
Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!
'Twas not those souls that fled in pain,
Which to their corses came again,
But a troop of spirits blest:
[ STANZA 28 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: At this stage, the Wedding-guest again began to show signs of fear. But the Mariner calmed him and told him that the souls that were now working on the ship were not those which had left their bodies after having undergone much agony, but a group of blessed spirits had entered the dead bodies.
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For when it dawned—they dropped their arms,
And clustered round the mast;
Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths,
And from their bodies passed.
[ STANZA 29 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: That they were a troop of blessed spirits was proved by the fact that when the day dawned, they stopped working and gathered near the mast. Sweet sounds issued out of their mouths and passed through their bodies.
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Around, around, flew each sweet sound,
Then darted to the Sun;
Slowly the sounds came back again,
Now mixed, now one by one.
[ STANZA 30 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Each sound flew around and then darted towards the Sun. Slowly these sounds returned. They could be heard sometimes in a group and at other times separately.
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Sometimes a-dropping from the sky
I heard the sky-lark sing;
Sometimes all little birds that are,
How they seemed to fill the sea and air
With their sweet jargoning!
[ STANZA 31 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: As he heard the sounds made by the blessed spirits, sometimes he felt that he was hearing the song of the skylark. At other times, he felt that the atmosphere was full of the twittering and singing of many birds.
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And now 'twas like all instruments,
Now like a lonely flute;
And now it is an angel's song,
That makes the heavens be mute.
[ STANZA 32 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: These sounds were really of varying notes. At one time they sounded like an orchestra. At another moment, they sounded like a single flute. Sometimes they sounded like the song of an angel that would bewitch to silence even the heavens.
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It ceased; yet still the sails made on
A pleasant noise till noon,
A noise like of a hidden brook
In the leafy month of June,
That to the sleeping woods all night
Singeth a quiet tune.
[ STANZA 33 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The music stopped but the sails of the ship continued making a pleasant sound till noon. It was as fascinating as the sound produced in the month of June by a steam hidden under the leaves in a forest — a stream that keeps singing a quiet tune to the sleeping woods all night.
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Till noon we quietly sailed on,
Yet never a breeze did breathe:
Slowly and smoothly went the ship,
Moved onward from beneath.
[ STANZA 34 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Though no breeze was blowing, the ship continued to sail on till noon. The ship moved slowly and smoothly as if something was moving it from below.
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Under the keel nine fathom deep,
From the land of mist and snow,
The spirit slid: and it was he
That made the ship to go.
The sails at noon left off their tune,
And the ship stood still also.
[ STANZA 35 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The ship was being moved by the spirit that had been following it from the land of mist and snow. It was moving nine fathom deep in the sea. At noon, the sails stopped making that pleasant sound and the ship came to a standstill.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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The Sun, right up above the mast,
Had fixed her to the ocean:
But in a minute she 'gan stir,
With a short uneasy motion—
Backwards and forwards half her length
With a short uneasy motion.
[ STANZA 36 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase:The Sun shone exactly over the mast and it seemed as if it was the Sun that had fixed the ship to the sea. But in a minute the ship began to move again. Its movement was no longer smooth. It moved backward and forward half its length in a very uncomfortable movement.
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Then like a pawing horse let go,
She made a sudden bound:
It flung the blood into my head,
And I fell down in a swound.
[ STANZA 37 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Suddenly the ship made a very quick movement, like that of a horse impatiently striking the ground with his hoofs. This sudden movement of the ship made the ancient Mariner feel giddy and he fell in a swoon.
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How long in that same fit I lay,
I have not to declare;
But ere my living life returned,
I heard and in my soul discerned
Two voices in the air.
[ STANZA 38 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He did not know how long he kept lying in that state of unconsciousness. But before he regained his consciousness, he felt that he could distinctly hear in his soul a dialogue between two voices.
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'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man?
By him who died on cross,
With his cruel bow he laid full low
The harmless Albatross.
[ STANZA 39 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: One of the voices (the Spirit of Justice) asked the other (the Spirit of Mercy) to tell him in the name of Lord Christ if this was the man who shot dead the innocent Albatross.
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The spirit who bideth by himself
In the land of mist and snow,
He loved the bird that loved the man
Who shot him with his bow.'
[ STANZA 40 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The spirit that lives all alone in the land of mist and snow loved this bird. The bird loved the man but the man cruelly shot it dead with his cross-bow.
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The other was a softer voice,
As soft as honey-dew:
Quoth he, 'The man hath penance done,
And penance more will do.'
[ STANZA 41 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The other was a soft voice, as soft as honey dew. He said that the ancient Mariner had already done a great deal of penance and would be doing still more penance.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
Option / Detail 3: Enter your detail here
PART VI
First Voice
'But tell me, tell me! speak again,
Thy soft response renewing—
What makes that ship drive on so fast?
What is the ocean doing?'
[ STANZA 1 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The first voice asked the other to tell him how—— the ship was moving so fast and what the ocean was doing.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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Second Voice
Still as a slave before his lord,
The ocean hath no blast;
His great bright eye most silently
Up to the Moon is cast—
[ STANZA 2 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The second voice replied that the ocean was as quiet as a slave in the presence of his master. It seemed that the ocean was looking silently at the Moon—
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If he may know which way to go;
For she guides him smooth or grim.
See, brother, see! how graciously
She looketh down on him.'
[ STANZA 3 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: To be directed how it should behave. (The Moon controls the movement of the ocean). And look, how the Moon, too, appeared to be looking at the sea graciously.
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First Voice
'But why drives on that ship so fast,
Without or wave or wind?'
[ STANZA 4 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The first voice repeated the question how the ship was moving so fast when there was neither any wind in the sky nor a wave in the sea.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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Second Voice
'The air is cut away before,
And closes from behind.
[ STANZA 5 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The second voice replied that the movement of the ship was being caused by the air in front being split into two, thus producing a vacuum and rushing in violently from behind to exert pressure on the ship.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high!
Or we shall be belated:
For slow and slow that ship will go,
When the Mariner's trance is abated.'
[ STANZA 6 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Then this spirit told the other that they must fly higher and higher, or they would be getting late. It also said that as the Mariner has regained consciousness, the ship would move more and more slowly.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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I woke, and we were sailing on
As in a gentle weather:
'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;
The dead men stood together.
[ STANZA 7 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner now woke up to find that the ship was sailing as smoothly as in a gently weather. It was a peaceful night and the Moon was shining brightly. The dead men were all standing together.
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All stood together on the deck,
For a charnel-dungeon fitter:
All fixed on me their stony eyes,
That in the Moon did glitter.
[ STANZA 8 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The bodies fit to be thrown into some underground cell were still standing on the deck. Their stony eyes, glittering in the moonlight, were fixed on the Mariner.
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The pang, the curse, with which they died,
Had never passed away:
I could not draw my eyes from theirs,
Nor turn them up to pray.
[ STANZA 9 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The expression of agony and the curse with which they had died has never left them. The Mariner felt very helpless. He could neither take his eyes away from them nor raise them to heaven and pray.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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And now this spell was snapt: once more
I viewed the ocean green,
And looked far forth, yet little saw
Of what had else been seen—
[ STANZA 10 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Now the spell was broken. Once again he saw the green sea. He looked far into the sea but could not see anything of what he had seen earlier.
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Like one, that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows, a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
[ STANZA 11 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He was like a person who walks alone on a road in fear and dread like one who has once turned round but is afraid to do so again, for he is afraid that a frightful fiend is closely following him.
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But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Nor sound nor motion made:
Its path was not upon the sea,
In ripple or in shade.
[ STANZA 12 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Soon he felt that a gentle wind was blowing on him. It was a very strange kind of wind, for it neither created any sound nor made anything move. It did not seem to be blowing on the sea, for it did not create any ripples, nor did it cause any change of shades in the water.
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It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek
Like a meadow-gale of spring—
It mingled strangely with my fears,
Yet it felt like a welcoming.
[ STANZA 13 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: It fanned his cheeks and ruffled his hair like a spring gale blowing in a meadow. He feared it lest it should bring some disaster with it, yet it had a pleasing effect on him.
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Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too:
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze—
On me alone it blew.
[ STANZA 14 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The ship moved at a very high speed but it moved gently and smoothly. The breeze blew gently, and it blew on the Mariner alone.
Option / Detail 2: Enter your detail here
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Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed
The light-house top I see?
Is this the hill? is this the kirk?
Is this mine own countree?
[ STANZA 15 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Now the ancient Mariner saw a very thrilling sight. He saw the lighthouse top, the hill and the church. He could not believe his eyes when he saw these objects. He wondered if he had really come back to his own country.
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We drifted o'er the harbour-bar,
And I with sobs did pray—
O let me be awake, my God!
Or let me sleep alway.
[ STANZA 16 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The ship was driven by the current over the harbour bar. He burst into sobful prayer. He prayed that either he could be fully conscious or he should go into everlasting sleep.
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The harbour-bay was clear as glass,
So smoothly it was strewn!
And on the bay the moonlight lay,
And the shadow of the Moon.
[ STANZA 17 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: It was a calm weather and the water of the harbour was crystal clear. The reflection of the Moon could be clearly seen in the water of the bay. The coast-land appeared to be bathed in the moonlight.
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The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,
That stands above the rock:
The moonlight steeped in silentness
The steady weathercock.
[ STANZA 18 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The hill as well as the church standing on it shone brightly in the moonlight. The weathercock was motionless and seemed to be steeped in the moonlight.
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And the bay was white with silent light,
Till rising from the same,
Full many shapes, that shadows were,
In crimson colours came.
[ STANZA 19 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The bay was bright and silent. Presently, the ancient Mariner saw many crimson-coloured, shadowy shapes rising above it.
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A little distance from the prow
Those crimson shadows were:
I turned my eyes upon the deck—
Oh, Christ! what saw I there!
[ STANZA 20 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Those crimson shadows were at some distance from the prow of the ship. Then he turned his eyes towards the deck and saw an astonishing sight there.
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Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,
And, by the holy rood!
A man all light, a seraph-man,
On every corse there stood..
[ STANZA 21 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He saw that the dead bodies were no longer standing together. Rather they were lying flat on the deck. He was also surprised to see that an angel, bathed in light, stood near every dead body.
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This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
It was a heavenly sight!
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;
[ STANZA 22 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: It was a heavenly sight to see each one of these angels waving his hand. They were probably trying to attract the attention of the people on the shore.
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This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
No voice did they impart—
No voice; but oh! the silence sank
Like music on my heart.
[ STANZA 23 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Each angel waved his hand, but none of them uttered a word. They did not produce any sound, but their very silence sank into the Mariner's soul like music.
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But soon I heard the dash of oars,
I heard the Pilot's cheer;
My head was turned perforce away
And I saw a boat appear.
[ STANZA 24 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Soon he heard the strokes of the oars and the cheering voice of the Pilot. At this he turned his head in that direction and saw a boat approaching them.
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The Pilot and the Pilot's boy,
I heard them coming fast:
Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy
The dead men could not blast.
[ STANZA 25 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He saw the Pilot and the Pilot's boy coming fast towards him. This was a source of great joy, so great indeed that it could not be undone even by the presence of the dead men on the deck.
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I saw a third—I heard his voice:
It is the Hermit good!
He singeth loud his godly hymns
That he makes in the wood.
He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
The Albatross's blood.
[ STANZA 26 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Then the Mariner saw the holy Hermit and heard his voice also. The Hermit wrote divine hymns and sang them aloud in the woods. The Mariner hoped that he would listen to his confession and absolve him of the sin of killing the Albatross.
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PART VII
This Hermit good lives in that wood
Which slopes down to the sea.
How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
He loves to talk with marineres
That come from a far countree.
[ STANZA 1 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: This good Hermit lived in the wood that sloped towards the sea. He sang hymns sweetly and loudly. He was fond of talking with the sailors who came from distant countries.
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He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve—
He hath a cushion plump:
It is the moss that wholly hides
The rotted old oak-stump.
[ STANZA 2 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Hermit knelt in prayer three times a day, in the morning, at noon and in the evening. An oak-stump covered with moss served as his cushion.
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The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,
'Why, this is strange, I trow!
Where are those lights so many and fair,
That signal made but now?'
[ STANZA 3 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The skiff came near. The Mariner could hear them talking. They were expressing their surprise that the strange lights that had beckoned them had disappeared.
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'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said—
'And they answered not our cheer!
The planks looked warped! and see those sails,
[ STANZA 4 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Hermit also said that it was really strange that those lights had disappeared. He drew their attention to another strange fact also—the crew had not responded to any of their shouts. He noticed that the planks of the ship looked shrunk.
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How thin they are and sere!
I never saw aught like to them,
Unless perchance it were
[ STANZA 5 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The sails were also thin and sere. He said that he had not seen anything else like those sails. The Pilot swore that the ship had really a devilish look. He was afraid to go ahead. But the Hermit cheered him up and asked him to row on.
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Brown skeletons of leaves that lag
My forest-brook along;
When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow,
And the owlet whoops to the wolf below,
That eats the she-wolf's young.'
[ STANZA 6 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The only things that could be compared to them were dried leaves which made the brook in the wood flow slowly at the time when the ivy-tod is heavily burdened with snow and the young one of the owl hoots to the wolf eating his young ones in the absence of the she-wolf.
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'Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look—
(The Pilot made reply)
I am a-feared'—'Push on, push on!'
Said the Hermit cheerily.
[ STANZA 7 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase : By looking up to sky, the Pilot swore that the ship had really a devilish look. He was afraid to go ahead. But the Hermit cheered him up and asked him to row on. .
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The boat came closer to the ship,
But I nor spake nor stirred;
The boat came close beneath the ship,
And straight a sound was heard.
[ STANZA 8 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The boat came closer to the ship. But the Mariner neither uttered a word nor made any movement. The moment the boat came within reach of the ship, a loud sound was heard.
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Under the water it rumbled on,
Still louder and more dread:
It reached the ship, it split the bay;
The ship went down like lead.
[ STANZA 9 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase:A thunderlike sound was produced under the water. Gradually, it became louder and more dreadful. Eventually, it reached the ship. The water in the bay was divided into two parts and the ship sank into it like a lump of lead.
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Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound,
Which sky and ocean smote,
Like one that hath been seven days drowned
My body lay afloat;
But swift as dreams, myself I found
Within the Pilot's boat.
[ STANZA 10 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner was stupefied by the loud and horrible sound that struck the sky and the sea. When he recovered, he found himself floating on the surface of the water as if he had been drowned seven days before, and after a long time his body had risen to the surface. But quick as a dream, he found himself in the Pilot's boat.
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Upon the whirl, where sank the ship,
The boat spun round and round;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.
[ STANZA 11 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The boat went round and round at the place where the ship had sunk. Soon everything was quiet except that the sound was being re-echoed by the hills.
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I moved my lips—the Pilot shrieked
And fell down in a fit;
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
And prayed where he did sit.
[ STANZA 12 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner moved the lips, which frightened the Pilot. He uttered a loud cry and fell unconscious. The Hermit raised his eyes to heaven and prayed where he was sitting.
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I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
Who now doth crazy go,
Laughed loud and long, and all the while
His eyes went to and fro.
'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see,
The Devil knows how to row.'
[ STANZA 13 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner took up the oars and began to row the boat. This frightened the Pilot-boy out of his wits. He laughed loud and long. His eyes began to roll. He cried that he could clearly see that the Devil knew how to row a boat.
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And now, all in my own countree,
I stood on the firm land!
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.
[ STANZA 14 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Now the ancient Mariner had reached his own country. He heaved a sigh of relief to feel that he stood on the firm land and no more on the surface of the sea. The Hermit too stepped on the land. He appeared to be having much difficulty in standing on his feet.
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'O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!'
The Hermit crossed his brow.
'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say—
What manner of man art thou?'
[ STANZA 15 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner requested the Hermit to hear him make his confession and to shrive him. The Hermit made the sign of the cross on his forehead and asked the Mariner to tell him what type of man he was.
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Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.
[ STANZA 16 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Immediately the body of the Mariner was convulsed with a woeful agony. It forced him to narrate the story of his crime. Once he had finished it, he was left at peace.
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Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns:
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.
[ STANZA 17 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner told the Wedding-guest that after that his agony returned to him at irregular intervals. His heart burnt within his body and he knew no peace till he had related his horrible story to someone.
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I pass, like night, from land to land;
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see,
I know the man that must hear me:
To him my tale I teach.
[ STANZA 18 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He moved from land to land as silently as the night. He had gained mysterious power of speech. The moment he looked at the face of a man, he could recognize whether he was a suitable man to tell his story. Thus, after having selected a suitable listener, he related his story to him.
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What loud uproar bursts from that door!
The wedding-guests are there:
But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are:
And hark the little vesper bell,
Which biddeth me to prayer!
[ STANZA 19 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: A loud sound of music coming from the wedding-hall was heard soon after. All the wedding-guests were there. The bride and the bridesmaids were singing in the garden. One could also hear the sound of the bell calling people to evening prayer.
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O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea:
So lonely 'twas, that God himself
Scarce seemèd there to be.
[ STANZA 20 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The Mariner told the Wedding-guest that he had been all alone on the vast sea. It was so lonely there that he felt that even God had abandoned that place.
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O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
'Tis sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company!—
[ STANZA 21 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He added that he liked going to the church in good company much more than attending a wedding-feast.
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To walk together to the kirk,
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends
And youths and maidens gay!
[ STANZA 22 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He enjoyed going with them to the church and praying there together. It was indeed a moment of great joy to him when old men, children, loving friends youthful men and women prayed to God, our great Father.
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Farewell, farewell! but this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
[ STANZA 23 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: Then the ancient Mariner bade the Wedding-guest farewell. But before leaving, he told him that the best way to pray to God is to love everything God has created. One should love all men, birds and beasts.
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He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.
[ STANZA 24 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The best prayer is to love all creatures. One should love all creatures, big and small, without discrimination, for the dear God who created all, loves all.
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The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar,
Is gone: and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.
[ STANZA 25 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: The ancient Mariner with bright eyes and grey beard went away. After that the Wedding-guest did not go to the bridegroom's house. He went his own way.
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He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn.
[ STANZA 26 ANALYSIS / NOTES ]
Paraphrase: He walked away like one dazed and deprived of his senses. When he got up the next morning, he was a sadder and wiser man.
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Short about author :
Samuel Taylor Coleridge is the premier poet-critic of modern English tradition, distinguished for the scope and influence of his thinking about literature as much as for his innovative verse. Active in the wake of the French Revolution as a dissenting pamphleteer and lay preacher, he inspired a brilliant generation of writers and attracted the patronage of progressive men of the rising middle class. As William Wordsworth’s collaborator and constant companion in the formative period of their careers as poets, Coleridge participated in the sea change in English verse associated with Lyrical Ballads (1798). His poems of this period, speculative, meditative, and strangely oracular, put off early readers but survived the doubts of Wordsworth and Robert Southey to become recognized classics of the romantic idiom.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on October 21, 1772 in the remote Devon village of Ottery St. Mary, the tenth and youngest child of Ann Bowdon Coleridge and John Coleridge, a school-master and vicar whom he was said to resemble physically as well as mentally. In vivid letters recounting his early years he describes himself as “a genuine Sans culotte, my veins uncontaminated with one drop of Gentility.” The childhood of isolation and self-absorption which Coleridge describes in these letters has more to do, on his own telling, with his position in the family. Feelings of anomie, unworthiness, and incapacity persisted throughout a life of often compulsive dependency on others.
Reference;
->"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, Wikimedia Foundation.
-> Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Edited by, Narain's Publications.
