Coleridge - Ancient Mariner (1 Viewer)

[scruffy012]

well heres another thread about coleridge's poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner, this is my interpretation of the poem, of which my english teacher doesnt support because i thinkl that it is a dark poem, not a poem about the consecquences of killing a bird (the rest may be slightly repeatitive as it was saved from another post ) please tell me your interpretation of the poem, and tell me if you disagree cuz i need to change it a bit before the HSC thanks

but here is the my one teacher disagrees with me the most, the good ol' Ancient Mariner. according to my teacher the purpose of the poem is a demonstration of what happens when you kill 'gods creatures' (and i go to a public school!!!)
but in a complete contrast of understanding and beliefs, i believe that the poem isn't postitive like my teacher thinks, but a total opitamy, the complete opposite, i believe that this poem is negitive, demonstrating the destructiveness of the human culture, the poem as a whole is negitive, Life -In-Death, and Lady Death gambling for the lives of the crew is a prefect example of this, the dominators determing the fate of the 'lesser' mortals, (fairly ironic to today really).

the main theme in this peom i believe is the negitivity of the human culture ands the destructiveness of the human ideal, NOT the consequences of shooting an albotross, or some slackass not navigating properly. but the main ideal that sets this poem down is the sudden need to include god into the poem, from what i believe it is a sudden reminder to coleridge himself that the dominators (i.e. church/god etc) must be followed, and hence the sudden religious theme that to me slows down the whole poem, from as a demonstration of the negitivity of human culture and the consequences, to respecting all gods creatures, to me why would coleridge set up a poem to demonstrate negitivity, to suddenly lose momentum, and add god to the scene, if he wanted to demonstreate the consequences of god, why didnt he start it positivily??????

another thing i think that the mariner is the representative (or 'host'/key character/muse) that coleriodge uses as a demonstration of these negitive feelings, otherwise why is the mariner stopping people and telling him of his curse, and the negitivity of the human psyche ( thats the word i needed!!)
he is only a muse who serves as a sole purpose to act as a warning as a prevention of destruction to humanity. as he is only telling the guest a story of his life, and this, with the aspects of Life-in-Death, the godly eel bit, and a few others. the poem as a whole is a warning to humanity, about self destruction, not 'to stop shooting pretty little birdies'

please tell me your opinion of my interpretation of any ideas you's have that can help me get this right

Thanks Scruffy

(p.s. Kubla Khan is in the works and coming soon )

 

[Lorie]

the main theme in this peom i believe is the negitivity of the human culture ands

peom hey sam. I thought i was the only one who could spell it wrong

 

[Lorie]

Sam mate, thats a bit off the topic. A epitamy is a clear example of a paradigm or idea etc... unless you were trying to spell another word?

im gonna chuck in my two cents worth...or somewhat more...smeh, it was funded by pedlow.

the poem actually does end positively, depending on your own religious morality- the mariner is given a second chance by the lord to live his life. you may see this as positive. alternatively, the mariner does pennance for his actions by living with the knowledge he killed the two hundred men upon his ship- coleridge turns the mariner into an example of his own religious morality- it strongly affirms his religious beliefs, god is compassionate, but will strike down with furious vengeance and merciless anger those who shall torment my brother(pulp fiction, not the bible). in the end, the mariner becomes a walking talking example of gods power to forgive- is that not positive?
The mariner is an example of the impurity and vileness that really lurks inside us all- god is always seen in a positive light... the religious element of this work is what stops it becoming full on depressing
-burkey

 

[scruffy012]

rep

yeah there are a few mistakes but i was in a hurry to type it out, opitimy was spose to be opposite, but i agree the religious theme in the poem does reduce the negitive spin on it but the religious bit is sudden, and slows down the impact of the poem.

 

[Hale]

i tend to disagree slightly with it ends positively. The mariner hasnt and never will have paid his pennance for his crime. he is doomed to tell his tale until he dies, his life is now motivated by his rememberance of his past deeds, and at moments where the memories are more vivid, he has to reach out and tell his tale to any who are there to listen. Such are the rest of his days.

 

[Candypants]

It's not a negative poem. I mean, everything has got a wide scope and each to their own, but Coleridge was a romantic poem and they were concerned with al the beautiful things in life, not the dark depressing ones.

And it does end postively - well, more or less. Even though the Mariner is cursed to tell his tale (which is his penance), he now has God's blessing, and can now appreciate the beauty of nature in all its forms, even in the watersnakes.

 

[~*Bec S*~]

one word CONTEXT . it is a Romantic poem with a capital R. Romantic poety is an interlectual celebration of the importance of feelings and imagination in a revolt against the neo- classicism, industrialisation and nationalism of the 18th century. It ranges from the old and exotic (KK) to the supernatural, bizarre or nightmarish.The reason that AM is dark is because of the gothic influence of the time. The Romantics saw nature as precious, representing truth and beauty. This was seen as gods creation. The closer to nature being the same as the closer to god. as such the laws of nature being the laws of God, and you cannot break the laws of nature for if you do you shall be cursed. see the connection? while your teacher may be going overboard, god if an important feature to Coleridge's poetry and we can see this through his use of Symbolism and Biblical Allusions that arise thoughout the poem, and yes the Albatross is symbolic of christ. however you are justified in saying that it is a dark poem as it explores the detructive capacity of human nature- yet when the mariner recognises the beauty of nature and gods creatures the curse begins to lift, growing in understanding of his relationship with god and nature... is this just me or is this parrallelling the society that Coleridge was revolting against, by saying that what they destroy now (nature)shall remain with them, and they may never uncommit the crime. in the words of Joni Mitchell "dont it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone" i guess it is demonstrating the penance man will pay if he commits crimes against nature. correct me if i am wrong

 

[Hale]

he doesnt so much as have gods blessing as have removed gods curse. when i think about it the poem goes liek this

IGNORE THE DOTS

positive


neutral __
............... \.........___
.................\......./
negative ....\__/

Is this not the best diagram ever?

where it sorta ends up less positive than where it started due to the fact hes forever doomed to wander the earth telling his story.

ps: you dont need to have been cut off from nature to appreciate sea snakes. sea snakes are the best!

could the time put into posting this really have been put to better use?

 

[scruffy012]

he doesnt so much as have gods blessing as have removed gods curse. when i think about it the poem goes liek this

IGNORE THE DOTS

positive


neutral __
............... \.........___
.................\......./
negative ....\__/

Is this not the best diagram ever?

where it sorta ends up less positive than where it started due to the fact hes forever doomed to wander the earth telling his story.
[/I]

yeah thats what i believe, after such discussion with peers and teachers, how can someone possibly get something positive, yes it does pick up in the end, but realistically he is doomed for eternity telling of his story, and hmmmmmm thats postive.............................................

if you want a copy of my AoS essay covering this PM me or find it in the forumns, it should be on the front page somewhere in the imaginary journeys.

Scruffy

 

[eth]

I agree, your English teacher has no clue... but I find the poem - not surpisingly, for Coleridge - to be about the power and majesty and beauty etc of nature. The fact that the mariner killed a bird is irrelevant... it could have as easily been a turtle, or an iridescent beetle crawling along the deck. What is important that the mariner kills a part of nature, for no reason, and this gratuitous destruction is what invokes the curse. This is supported by the fact that it is appreciation of the natural beauty of the water snakes that breaks the curse, allowing the albatross to fall from his neck and sink "Like lead into the sea" which was NOT a cliche at the time.

Basically, the poem discusses the consequences of thoughtless action, and the reason for the introduction of a "religious theme" is that Coleridge was a Romantic, and the Romantics saw man as coming closest to God through nature (pantheism). That was one of the driving forces in all of Coleridge's poetry.

 

[Shuter]

See it could be viewed as happy in the end as even though he has to carry around this bruden for the rest of his life, it's not nessacerily for all eternity. When he dies he may be forgiven by god and finally free of this curse.

One of the definitions of pennance is:
"3. (Eccl.) A means of repairing a sin committed, and obtaining pardon for it, consisting partly in the performance of expiatory rites, partly in voluntary submission to a punishment corresponding to the transgression. Penance is the fourth of seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. --Schaff-Herzog Encyc."

So while he must carry this burden in life, by doing so he realises he may be forgiven for his sin and will eventually be able to go to heaven then.

 

[Candypants]

he doesnt so much as have gods blessing as have removed gods curse. when i think about it the poem goes liek this

IGNORE THE DOTS

positive


neutral __
............... \.........___
.................\......./
negative ....\__/

Is this not the best diagram ever?

Best diagram ever.

 

[Huynhzie]

wats a good related text for "Rime of the Ancient Mariner"