Topic > Review of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Poem AnalysisTo begin with, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a beautifully constructed poem. His ability to use imagery and other literary devices gives the reader a very clear vision of the story as it unfolds. I really liked how physical nature was used in the poem, and more specifically, how it was controlled by spiritual nature. It was evident that a greater force controlled the weather, perhaps a lurking spirit, and this spirit is responsible for both the agony and the good fortune experienced by the sailors. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayFor example, the spirit's ability to guide the ship through the time when sailors treated the albatross with kindness and respect is symbolic of the being from the spiritual world being able to control the physical world. And that's exactly what I think the poem is about. It's a truly unique way of expressing one's belief in another force that we humans cannot recognize with the naked eye. I also suppose that the Ancient Mariner received a very valuable lesson from killing the albatross. They are shown that we must respect the environment around us. Whether it is animals, plants or any other element of physical nature that we are accustomed to, we must learn to coexist and respect each other. The Ancient Mariner displays both behaviors throughout the poem. First, when he and his fellow sailors reach the frost, they are introduced to the albatross and treat it with extreme kindness. They feed him, play with him and treat him as if he were one of their own. By interacting with the albatross in this way, the Ancient Mariner and the ship experience great fortune. Suddenly they are granted a path through which they can steer due to the previously absent wind which is pushing the ship into the frost. Alternatively, when the Ancient Mariner kills the albatross, mistreating it, he begins to experience bad luck in the form of his other sailors dying, leaving him responsible for their deaths. Therefore the Ancient Mariner should have understood through these two examples that if he wants good luck and 'help' from the surrounding spirits then he must treat his surroundings respectfully, as if he were another human being. An image that I thought was very powerful comes up at the end of Part III when the Ancient Mariner exclaims that “every soul, passed me by, Like the whistle of my crossbow!”. I feel like this gives the reader a good idea of ​​what the Ancient Mariner was feeling at the time. Remorse and regret, among other things, are what plague his mind at that very moment and this image does an impressive job of painting a picture for the reader. In saying this, it should be evident that the sense at play here is sight. Describing the passing souls as the whistling of his crossbow, he tells the reader that they were moving past him at a rapid pace. This description also demonstrates his remorse as the sailors lay dead and their souls wandered, for the Ancient Mariner killed the albatross with his crossbow. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Personalize EssayConclusionFinally, I believe the poem is titled as such for literal reasons and also for some more ambiguous ones. Rhyme as a literal term appears throughout the poem as a kind of block to the ship and so including it in the title would be justified. Also, and I'm not entirely sure, I think it's called that as a play on words. The poem contains the literary technique of rhyme, having an ending.