How does Coleridge open his story in Part I of ‘The Ancient Mariner’?
(Comment on language, form and structure).
If ‘The Ancient Mariner’ is indeed an allegory – that is, the representation of abstract principles by characters or figures – it would have to incorporate this concept into the introduction, which it does. The piece is written irregularly and in a ballad form, with some stanzas containing rhyming couple, inline rhymes and, oddly, some stanzas are longer than each other.
Three young men who are arriving in the area to attend to a wedding are mentioned immediately; could these characters be representative of the three wise men from early Biblical teachings? It could be held that they compose the forum for which the Ancient Mariner can release the guilt of his impending, ominous telling, and are thus the integral part for which the poem can be understood. The work as a whole seems to have religious connotations and it is not too far-fetched to suggest that Coleridge had that in mind when writing; given the context of the era the piece was composed in. However, the implications cease there for now. As the wedding guest seeks to be freed from the grip of the “grey-beard loon”, he seems perplexed (“now wherefore stopp’st thou me?”) as if to infer that the soon-to-be-told ramblings of the Mariner are confusing, incorrect or, perhaps, more indicative of the state of the old man’s mental health. The young guest then becomes fixated with the presence of a “glittering eye” which he ascribes to someone who has a tale to be told (“The Wedding-Guest stood still / And listens like a three years’ child”). Possibly startled, the Mariner willingly continues with his tales (“And thus spoke on that Ancient Man / The bright-eyed Mariner”) and begins his foray into the past.
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Teacher Reviews
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*** 3 STARS Some good use of PEA and well selected quotes are embedded. Accurate use of terminology. Closer language analysis needed in places. Shows understanding and knowledge of the poem and its main theme of religion. Summary or conclusion needed in order to fully answer the question.