THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

We have to look at the poem from the perspective of “sin-suffering-repentence-redemption-penance”.The 5I of the romantic period is hidden in  this perspective-I think.Coleridge explains us the Mariner’s story that starts  with comitting a sin and ending with his penance.Now we will look at those 5I in the poem.First of all I want to tell my feelings about the poem:

Life is an ocean that is sometimes blue,clear and heart-warming.It is sometimes stormy ,frightening and heart-breaking.We,people,are the voyager souls of the ship of body.Sometimes we face icebergs in this ocean,guides and the ship of the death.We sometimes commit crime in this ocean like the Ancient Mariner and suffer for it.Later,we became regretful for it,and pray for being forgiven.We get either forgiven or convicted to penance.Ancient Mariner also commited a crime and suffered for it.Just like us he was convicted to penance (travelling around  the world and telling his tale to people),too.

Now we can talk about the 5I of the Romanticism in the poem.(inspiration,intiution,imagination,idealism,individualism).According to me the order of the 5I is like it is in the paranthesis. First you are inspired by something (nature,corruption in the society…etc), and that  thing fills you with the feeling it awakens  inside you.You got intiution about how to explain it and that intiution becomes the ignition key of your imagination and  starts your imagination.You want to correct the mistake, inspiring you, for people not to repeat it .You present  the solutions to make the society a better place.That is idealism. Your work intersts everybody individually(For example ,Nobody can suffer for the other person’s mistake.)

What inspired Coleridge is the corruption of the society and the fact that All the God’s creatures should be loved or respected.Later he has an intiution to write about a mariner –The Ancient Mariner.Using his imagination he made a story including sea,ship ,sea ceatures and the relationship of these things with one another.Because this poem is for preventing the society and the people from doing the same mistake the Mariner comitted ,it symbolizes the idealism.As for individualism ;Mariner suffers from his own mistake and nobody suffers instead of him.That is I think the individualism aspect of the poem.Also it is said that Coleridge explained himself in the poem.That can also be the example of  individualism.

The examples of the 5I from the poem:

Inspiration:The Mariner is inspired to pray by the beauty of the water snakes.

 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.

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 self-same moment I could pray;

And from my neck so free

The Albatross fell off, and sank

Like lead into the sea.

Imagination:Whole poem is the product of imagination.

Intiuition:The Mariner travels and tells his tale.The moment he comes upon the man to whom he is destined to tell his tale ,he knows it by intiution.

 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?

……

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.

Idealism:The Mariner tells his tale to prevent the same mistake from being repeated and make the world more livable place.

Individualism:The Mariner is all alone from the moment he commited the sin to his repentance.Everybody is responsible for her/his mistake not for someone else’s.