This long poem by Coleridge is one of the greats. I’ve read it again now, available at http://www.online-literature.com/coleridge/646/ and would like to highlight some themes. It tells the story of how a ‘greybeard loon’ stops a wedding guest to tell him of his travels to the southern ocean. Please now, read the poem yourself, because I will summarise it.
The mariner kills an albatross and brings a foul curse upon the ship. This is the source of the famous image of an albatross hanging about the neck of a cursed person. He alone of all the crew, like Ulysses, returns to his homeland, after adventures with death and beauty, finding redemption in atonement to nature. What appeals to me is that the poem, written in 1797, presents the imagination of an Englishman inspired by Captain James Cook, who claimed Australia for Britain. The colonial adventurers and explorers in the age of discovery symbolised man’s imperial conquest of nature, but the albatross symbolises the mysterious danger of the friendly unknown, able to wreak havoc when crossed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_o ... Background says Cook’s astronomer was Coleridge’s tutor, hence the vivid and realistic imagery.
Now to the text
Reminds me of Merlin, or Gandalf. Coleridge had an eye for magic, and the glittering eye tells of unknown secrets.“`By thy long grey beard and glittering eye, Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?”
Coleridge is drawing us into the spell of the lunatic, perhaps against our better judgment."There was a ship," quoth he. `Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!' Eftsoons his hand dropped he. He holds him with his glittering eye - The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: The Mariner hath his will.
What this means is that the journey starts in the northern hemisphere, where the sun rises on the left, and heads south to the tropics. Later, when the sun rises on the right, we are in the southern hemisphere. This sense of planetary dimension was quite new in Coleridge’s day, Cook being the first to have reached the Southern Ocean. Most people now are still disoriented by the idea that in the other hemisphere the sun appears to travel in the opposite direction.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. Higher and higher every day, Till over the mast at noon -".
Imagine Coleridge at the knee of Cook’s astronomer, hearing strange tales of emerald icebergs. This derring-do reminds of the discovery of strange animals and cultures from the far flung reaches of the globe.The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast, And southward aye we fled. And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, As green as emerald.
An animal with soul, rather heretical, but expressive of the wonder of exploration.At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God's name.
The bird joins the ship for nine daysIn mist or cloud, on mast or shroud, It perched for vespers nine;
But the Mariner kills it."With my crossbow I shot the Albatross."
In the southern hemisphere"The sun now rose upon the right: Out of the sea came he,
A magical suggestion, the mystery of nature wreaks its vengeance on the arrogantAnd 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.
Such famous lines. It reminds that you can drink sea water a hundred miles off the coast of the Amazon River, such is its mighty size carrying one third of the world’s river flow.Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean. Water, water, every where, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink..
The famous imageInstead of the cross, the Albatross About my neck was hung."
The ghost shipHow 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? Is Death that Woman's mate?
His shipmates all die.Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one. 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 crossbow!"
Fearing the mariner is a ghost, the wedding guest is assured the bard is among the living.I fear thee and thy glittering eye, And thy skinny hand, so brown.' - "Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest! This body dropped not down.
Blessing the snakes, atoning to nature, lifts the curse.Beyond the shadow of the ship I watched the water-snakes: ... 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. The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea."
The empty vessel leaves the doldrums with its lone loon aboard among the corpses.The loud wind never reached the ship, Yet now the ship moved on!
Zombie shipThe dead men gave a groan. 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. 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.
Lovelystill 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.
The cursed albatross spirit remains with him as the spectral motive power.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.
This image is of Gaia, earth goddess and lover of nature, with power of revenge on those who breach her trust.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.'
Ulysses reaches IthacaOh! dream of joy! is this indeed The lighthouse top I see? Is this the hill? is this the kirk?
Is this mine own country?
The ship sinks and the mariner is rescued.straight a sound was heard. 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. 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.
The moral of the story is to love nature.Farewell, farewell! but this I tell To thee, thou Wedding-Guest! He prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all."
