The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Poem
Here Today We Describe the Questions About The Rime of the Ancient Marine
Q.How mystery and supernatural elements are present in poem?
Mystery and Supernaturalism: The most
conspicuous feature of the poems of Coleridge is their intense imaginative
power. It exploits the weird, the supernatural and the obscure. The very centre
of Coleridge's imagination lies in his faculty of evoking the mystery of
things. Coleridge wrote in BiographiaLiteraria: "It was agreed that my
endeavours should he directed to persons and characters, supernatural or at
least romantic, yet so as to transfer from our inward nature a human nature and
a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination
that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment which constitutes poetic
faith." It was with this idea in mind that he composed The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner, a poem founded entirely on supernaturalism. Christabel and
Kubla Khan, the two poetic fragments, deal with supernatural element.
Coleridge gave an inwardness to his conception of
supernaturalism; he brought it into intimate relation with individual
experience and gave a new psychological interest to it. Coleridge himself wrote
about supernatural poetry: " .....the incidents and agents were to be in
part at least supernatural; and the excellence aimed at was to consist in the
interesting of the affections by the dramatic truth of such emotions, as would
naturally accompany such emotioas, supposing them real." Thus, Coleridge,
even before he wrote The Ancient Mariner laid stress upon three essential
features of the poems of the supernatural class: (i) psychological interest, (ii) dramatic truth, and (iii) reality of the
supernatural.
Supernaturalism in Coleridge's poetry is neither a
presentation of horror by external devices, nor a mere exhibition of the
effects of the supernatural on human conduct and behaviour, but it is an
exploration of what Pater calls "soul-lore", the deepest emotions of
the soul are explored by the experience of the supernatural. Secondly, the
incidents and emotions arising from them are so full of human interest that
they acquire a dramatic truth and produce "a suspension of disbelief which
constitutes poetic faith." Thirdly, the supernatural in Coleridge appears
to be psychologically real.
Coleridge's three great poems — The Ancient Mariner, Christabel and Kubla Khan— are the
finest examples of his use of the supernatural. He does not employ any crude
device to prodiee the sense of the supernatural. "It is delicacy,"
says Pater, "the dreamy grace in the presentation of the marvellous which
makes Coleridge's work so remarkable. The too palpable intruders from a
spiritual world in almost all ghost literature, in Scott and Shakespeare even,
have a kind of coarseness or crudeness. Coleridge's power is in the very
fineness with which, as with some really ghostly finger, he brings home to our
innermost sense his inventions, daring as they are." The secret of
Coleridge's unique success works on the mind and not merely on the external
objects. He knew with his psychological insight that the mysterious world of
the supernatural must remain a mystery, and that subtle suggestion only can
produce this sense of mystery, not crude description. It is with delicate
touches of suggestions combined with psychological insight, that he brings out
all the shadowy mysteries of the unseen world. It is the human note in his
supernatural poetry that helps to create this sense of reality. When the
Mariner recovers from the spell and returns to his normal self, a natural human
interest emerges in the weary words of the Mariner:
O sweeter than the marriage-feast
'T is sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kiosk
With a goodly company.
And in this chastened and humanised mood, he derives the simple moral:
He prayeth well who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.
Coleridge aroused the sense of supernatural mystery by taking
the imagination to some distant unknown place, especially the Middle Ages, as
in The Ancient Mariner, Christabel and Kubla Khan. Rickett writes:
"Coleridge does not use the spells of medievalism as so many stage
properties, he absorbs them into himself, and they reappear rarely distilled
and inextricably blended with the poet's exquisite perception of the mysteries
that surround the commonplace things of everyday life." Rickett further
writes that the Ancient Mariner "is wrought with the colour and glamour of
the Middle Ages. From the quaint embroideries of the "merry
minstrelsy" to the central pattern of the catholic idea of penance,
everywhere we see the mediaval touch—the fateful crossbow; the vesper-bell, the
shriving hermit, the innovation to "Mary Queen." ....... The
supernaturalism of the poem is no matter of stage-lighting as with
"Monk" Lewis; of hysterical declamation as with Mrs. Radcliffe; of
scenic accessories as with Scott; it is an atmosphere that suffuses the entire
tale; the outcome of a delicate hundred touches and subtle hints, made convincing
to the reader by the profound psychological insight of the poet." In
Christabel he again creates medieval atmosphere; there is the old moated castle
with its feudal accompaniments of heralds and pages, with its massive gate
"ironed within and without," we have the witch woman with the evil
spell and the innocent victim; hints of the tourney. This poem is a fantasia on
the elemental theme of good and evil, light and darkness, set in the
appropriate key of moonlight and nocturnal mystery." Coleridge was attracted
by the magic and mystery of the Middle Ages. His greatness lies in correlating
the magic and enchantment of medievalism with human psychology and experience.
Coleridge, thus, creates what is called "dramatic probability" and
produces "that willing suspension of disbelief which constitutes poetic
faith."
As a romantic poet, Coleridge undertook to awaken the feeling
of wonder by depicting the supernatural and the mysterious. The pervading sense
of mystery is the key to Coleridge's supernaturalism; it is that species of
supernaturalism whose essence is psychological. Pater says "It is this
finer, more delicately marvellous supernaturalism, fruit of his more delicate
psychology, that Coleridge infuses into romantic adventure, which itself was
then a new or revived thing in English language."
Part 1•The wedding guest is under the “spell” of The
Mariner’s “glittering eye”• The Albatross is a spiritual symbol – God and
nature – white bird like a dove (Holy Spirit)• Romantics believed God and
nature were one• Verses 41-44 - “Storm…tyrannous and strong” – personification•
“wings…chased us” - metaphor
5. Part I continued• Verse 81 – “Why look’st thou so? –
tone change• The Mariner kills the good bird with his cross bow
6. Part 2•The shipmates blame the Mariner for killing the
Albatross then take it back – they become accomplices to the killing• Verses
103-106 – “furrow, followed free” – Alliteration• The shipmates blame the
Mariner for killing the Albatross – they believe that killing the bird has
caused them to be stranded and evil around them• “Instead of the cross” hang
Albatross around his neck – symbolism – sin and guilt
7. Part 3•“Death Ship” – metaphor• Verses 190 – 194 - “Her lips
were red…” personification of death – a woman• Verses 195 – 198 - Game of dice
“I’ve won” game of “chance” – fate/life• Darkness = death• Verse 215 – “cursed
me with his eye” – symbolism• Souls passed him like his “crossbow” – how he
killed the Albatross
8. Part 4•Verses 232 – 235 – “Alone, alone, all alone…” –
repetition – he is isolated• “My heart as dry as dust” – he is alive but his
soul is dead– symbolism• Although the men are dead they curse him with their
eyes (souls)• “Seven days, seven nights…” – biblical number• Verse 263 – “The
moving Moon…” – alliteration also brings a change in tone
9. Part 4•Verses 263 – 287• “Softly she was going up…”• “…beams
bemocked…”• “…the water snakes… shining white… elfish light”• “I watched their
rich attire:/Blue, glossy green and velvet black….flash of golden fire”• The
beauty of nature has saved him, he can pray and is alive• The Albatross falls
off – his guilt/sin is released into the sea
10. Part 5•Mary – Holy
Mother – brings sleep and rain• Rain – water = rebirth – symbolism• Mariner
dies in his sleep and comes back a blessed ghost• The dead rise and steer the
ship without any wind• They are angels – “angels song”• “dawned…dropped” “Sweet
sounds” - alliteration
11. Part 5•The Polar Spirit carries the ship as the angels
command but he still wants vengeance• The Polar Spirit takes the ship to the
line. He and his demons shake the ship. The Mariner is struck and is
unconscious.• The Mariner’s penance is not over
12. Part 6• When the Mariner is in a trance the ship moves with
super natural power• When he is awake serves his penance and the dead men
continue to curse him• Verse 446 – “…on a lonesome road…” – symbolism – life ,
isolation• Verse 472 “… clear as glass…” – simile – change in tone – light
images• Angels are light
13. Part 7• The Hermit – hermits live in the woods away from
people• He Hermit encourages the pilot to push forward and rescue the Mariner•
The appearance of the Mariner – “The Devil knows how to row.”• Mariner asks
Hermit to shrieve( hear penance, absolve someone’s sins)- transforms him into a
priest• Once he tells his story (sin) he is free• His penance is to retell his
story
CHARACTERS
7. Ancient
Mariner •The poem's protagonist. • He is unnaturally old, with skinny,
deeply-tanned limbs and a "glittering eye.“ • He sets sail from his native
country with two hundred other men who are all saved from a strange, icy patch
of ocean when they are kind to an Albatross that lives there. • Impulsively and
inexplicably, he shoots the Albatross with his crossbow and is punished for his
crime by a spirit who loved the Albatross. • He is cursed to be haunted
indefinitely by his dead shipmates, and to be compelled to tell the tale of his
downfall at random times. • Each time he is compelled to share his story with
someone, he feels a physical agony that is abated only temporarily once he finishes
telling the tale.
8. Wedding
Guest •One of three people on their way to a wedding reception; he
is next of kin to the bridegroom. • The Ancient Mariner stops him, and despite
his protests compels him to sit and listen to the entirety of his story. • He
is afraid of the Ancient Mariner and yearns to join the merriment of the
wedding celebration, but after he hears the Ancient Mariner's story, he becomes
both "sadder and...wiser."
9. The
Sailors •Two hundred seamen who set sail with the Ancient Mariner one
clear, sunny day and find themselves in the icy world of the "rime"
after a storm, from which the Albatross frees them. • They feed and play with
the Albatross until the Ancient Mariner inexplicably kills it. They begin to
suffer from debilitating heat and thirst. • They hang the Albatross's corpse
around the Ancient Mariner's neck to punish him. When Life-in-Death wins the
Ancient Mariner's soul, the sailors' souls are left to Death and they curse the
Ancient Mariner with their eyes before dying suddenly. • Even though their
souls fly out, their bodies refuse to rot and lie open-eyed on the deck,
continuously cursing the Ancient Mariner. After the rain returns, the sailors
come alive and silently man the ship, singing beautiful melodies. • When the ship
reaches the harbor, they once again curse the Ancient Mariner with their eyes
and then disappear, leaving only their bodies behind. • The Ancient Mariner is
destined to suffer the curse of a living death and continually be haunted by
their cursing eyes.
10.
Albatross •A great, white sea bird that presumably saves the sailors
from the icy world of the "rime" by allowing them to steer through
the ice and sending them a good, strong wind. • The Albatross, however, also
makes a strange mist follow the ship. It flies alongside the ship, plays with
the sailors, and eats their food, until the Ancient Mariner shoots it with his
crossbow. • Its corpse is hung around the Ancient Mariner's neck as a reminder
of his crime and falls off only when he is able to appreciate the beauty of
nature and pray once more. • The Albatross is loved by a powerful spirit who
wreaks havoc on and kills the sailors while leaving the Ancient Mariner to the
special agony of Life-in-Death. Death • Embodied in a hulking form on the ghost
ship. • He loses at dice to Life-in-Death, who gets to claim the Ancient
Mariner's soul; instead, Death wins the two hundred sailors.
11. The
Night-mare Life in Death • Embodied in a beautiful, naked, ghostly woman with
golden hair and red lips. • She wins at dice over Death and gets to claim the
Ancient Mariner's soul, condemning him to a limbo-like living death. Pilot •
The captain of the small boat that rows out to the Ancient Mariner's ship. • He
loses his mind when the Ancient Mariner abruptly comes to life and begins to
row his boat. Pilot's Boy • The assistant to the Pilot; he rows the small boat.
• He loses his mind when the Ancient Mariner, whom he thinks is dead, abruptly
comes to life and takes the oars from him.
12. Hermit
•A recluse who prays three times a day and lives in communion with nature
in the woods. • He accompanies the Pilot and the Pilot's boy on the small boat
because "he loves to talk with mariners / from a far countree." • The
Ancient Mariner reveres the Hermit as a righteous and holy man, and asks him to
absolve him of his sin. • The Hermit is the first person to whom the Ancient
Mariner is compelled to tell his tale. First Voice • One of two voices
presumably belonging to a spirit. • The Ancient Mariner hears the First Voice
after he is knocked unconscious when the ship jolts forward. • He explains that
the Ancient Mariner offended a spirit by killing the Albatross, because the
spirit loved the bird. • Other than this moment, the First Voice relies on the
Second Voice to explain the Ancient Mariner's situation to him.
13. Second
Voice •The second of two voices presumably belonging to a spirit. •
The Second Voice is softer than the First Voice-"as soft as
honey-dew"-and more knowledgeable. • He explains to the First Voice that
the Ancient Mariner will pay for his crime much more dearly than he already
has. • Even though the First Voice tells the Second Voice that the Ancient
Mariner angered a spirit who loved the Albatross, the latter explains that the
Moon and air move the ship in lieu of wind, and not the spirit who loved the
Albatross. • Then he urges the First Voice onward, as they are hurrying
somewhere.
14.
Universal Truth •Suffering is sometimes the only way to change
someone’s habit. • One can access the sublime, "the image of a greater and
better world," only by seeing the value of the mundane, "the petty
things of daily life." • The supernatural communicates through the
natural. • Society can distance man from the sublime by championing worldly
pleasures and abandoning reverence for the otherworld. However, society can
also bring man closer to the sublime, such as when people gather together in
prayer. • Liminal spaces are bewildering and cause pain. • The Ancient Mariner
is like a strange prophet, kept alive to pass word of God's greatness onto
others. • The Ancient Mariner imprisons others by compelling them to listen to
his story; they are physically compelled to join him in his torment until he
releases them.
It
stimulates critical thinking making man realize the fundamental truths of life
and its nature. Just like what the Wedding guest did after hearing the
Mariner’s tale, instead of going to the celebration, he was stunned and went
home. The next day he woke up, “a sadder and a wiser man.” • It elevates spirit
and soul for the poem wants to see the community bow down in prayer. - as it
was written in stanza 141: He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both
great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.’
“Only people who love God’s
creations - men, birds, and animals included – can pray well and gain
salvation.”
Explanation
The ancient mariner stopped one of the three wedding guests
with his mesmerizing look
3. The bride entered the hall as red as rose and the wedding
began.
4. The wedding guest started listening mariner’s story as he
had no other choice
5. The Ancient Mariner began his story:“ Our ship left the
port.
6. Everyone were in a good mood
7. We sailed out and watched the church, the hill, and the
town lighthouse
8. A storm struck the ship
9. The storm chased the ship like a dreadful enemy to
Antarctica
10. We start to see huge icebergs that look green in the
clear water.
11. Our ship got lost in icebergs
12. there were no people or animals in sight
13. An albatross bird appeared
14. The sailors were happy to see another living creature
except them They hailed it in God’s name
15. the ice that had trapped them splits wide enough apart
for the ship to sail through.
16. The sailors feed the bird, and it started following them
17. The ancient Mariner inhospitably killed the pious bird
for good omen Everyone on the ship went against the mariner
18. The weather suddenly improved, the fog and mist went away
The sailors began to blame the bird for past conditions
19. The weather started becoming dreadful The wind stopped
20. The sun shone very brightly
21. Everyone felt very thirsty but they couldn’t find water.
They felt that they were going to die
22. The ocean even as deep as nine fathoms started to
"rot" from the dryness
23. The ship stood still as a ‘painted ship’ on a ‘painted
ocean’.
24. Water surface turns "slimy" and gross, slimy
creatures start to appear.
25. About, about, in reel and rout The death-fires danced at
night; The water, like a witch’s oils, Burnt green, and blue, and white.
26. The mariners blamed the ancient mariner for this change
As a punishment the dead albatross was hung around his neck
27. The ancient mariner saw a sail coming towards them But
his mouth was too dry to utter even a single word
28. It came from the west and the sun was setting in the west
the ship looked like a skeleton. He bit his arm to wet his lips with his own
blood and shouted.
29. As the ship approached ,the mariner saw the crew consists
of only two people: Death and Life-in-Death. Death and Life-in-Death were
playing a dice game. Life-in-Death won
30. Suddenly, everyone on the ship began to die.
31. They don't make a fuss but kind of just slump over.
32. Everyone on the ship except the ancient mariner died
33. the eyes of the dead sailors emanate terrible curse which
was worse than the curse of a little orphan
34. The sail went away………..
35. At night, the moon rose again, and the moonlight fell on
the ship like frost.
36. He looked at the water snakes swimming in the shadow of
his ship
37. He kind of got excited watching the snakes. He realized
that those hideous snakes were kind of beautiful. Without knowing it, he
blessed the wriggly little creatures in his heart.
38. The curse on the mariner broke and the albatross dropped
off his neck “ The selfsame moment I could pray; And from my neck so free The
Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea.”
39. Not only can he pray again, but he can also sleep again.
Exhausted from all the endless cursing and dying of thirst, he falls asleep.
40. When he woke up it rained.The Mariner had all the water
he needed.
41. The angels fill the bodies of dead sailors
42. The dead sailors rose up amid the thunder and lightning.
They looked like zombies and didn't say a word but all did the jobs they were
supposed to do, helping to sail the ship.
43. The spirits float around the ship and sing like birds.
44. The ship stopped and then moved with a sudden jerk that
made mariner fall
45. He heard two voices talking to each other
46. The first voice was curious while the second voice was
knowledgeable. They explained how ship was moving with the help of supernatural
force pushing it without wind
47. The Mariner ends up back at the port from which he left
long ago.
48. The ocean returned to its normal colour. It was a
beautiful sight, and naturally, the Mariner was overjoyed.
49. All the dead men who had come back to life to sail the
ship went back to being dead, and the angels were standing beside their bodies.
50. The Mariner saw a boat coming toward the ship.
51. The ship began to sink
52. A oarsman and his young crewmate were coming to rescue
him.
53. The ancient mariner got on the boat and met the ‘Hermit’
54. The ship sank like lead in to the sea. Under the water it
rumbled on, Still louder and more dread: It reach’d the ship, it split the bay;
The ship went down like lead.
55. The Mariner looked forward to the hermit clearing away
his sins by asking him questions, by ‘shriving’ his soul, like a confession.
56. The hermit compared everything to the forest.
57. As soon as he told the story to the hermit, he felt a lot
better.
58. the Mariner explained to the Wedding Guest that he often
had this painful feeling that he needed to get the story off his chest, and the
pain persists until he tells it.
59. He said that it's much better to walk to church with a
friend than to go to a marriage feast. He wants to see the entire community bow
down in prayer. The Wedding Guest was totally befuddled, as if he had lost his
senses He waked up the next day as "a sadder and a wiser man."
60. SUMMARY PART - 1Three young men are walking
together to a wedding, when one of them is detained by a grizzled old sailor.
The young Wedding-Guest angrily demands that the Mariner let go of him, and the
Mariner obeys. But the young man is transfixed by the ancient Mariner’s
“glittering eye” and can do nothing but sit on a stone and listen to his
strange tale. The Mariner says that he sailed on a ship out of his native
harbour— ”below the Kirk, below the hill, / Below the lighthouse top”—and into
a sunny and cheerful sea. Hearing bassoon music drifting from the direction of
the wedding, the Wedding-Guest imagines that the bride has entered the hall,
but he is still helpless to tear himself from the Mariner’s story. The Mariner
recalls that the voyage quickly darkened, as a giant storm rose up in the sea
and chased the ship southward. Quickly, the ship came to a frigid land “of mist
and snow,” where “ice, mast-high, came floating by”; the ship was hemmed inside
this maze of ice. But then the sailors encountered an Albatross, a great sea
bird. As it flew around the ship, the ice cracked and split, and a wind from
the south propelled the ship out of the frigid regions, into a foggy stretch of
water. The Albatross followed behind it, a symbol of good luck to the sailors.
A pained look crosses the Mariner’s face, and the Wedding-Guest asks him, “Why
look's thou so?” The Mariner confesses that he shot and killed the Albatross
with his crossbow.
61. SUMMARY PART - 2At first, the other sailors were
furious with the Mariner for having killed the bird that made the breezes blow.
But when the fog lifted soon afterward, the sailors decided that the bird had
actually brought not the breezes but the fog; they now congratulated the Mariner
on his deed. The wind pushed the ship into a silent sea where the sailors were
quickly stranded; the winds died down, and the ship was “As idle as a painted
ship / Upon a painted ocean.” The ocean thickened, and the men had no water to
drink; as if the sea were rotting, slimy creatures crawled out of it and walked
across the surface. At night, the water burned green, blue, and white with
death fire. Some of the sailors dreamed that a spirit, nine fathoms deep,
followed them beneath the ship from the land of mist and snow. The sailors
blamed the Mariner for their plight and hung the corpse of the Albatross around
his neck like a cross.
62. SUMMARY OF PART - 3A weary time passed; the sailors
became so parched, their mouths so dry, that they were unable to speak. But one
day, gazing westward, the Mariner saw a tiny speck on the horizon. It resolved
into a ship, moving toward them. Too dry-mouthed to speak out and inform the
other sailors, the Mariner bit down on his arm; sucking the blood, he was able
to moisten his tongue enough to cry out, “A sail! a sail!” The sailors smiled,
believing they were saved. But as the ship neared, they saw that it was a
ghostly, skeletal hull of a ship and that its crew included two figures: Death
and the Night-mare Life-in-Death, who takes the form of a pale woman with
golden locks and red lips, and “thicks man’s blood with cold.” Death and
Life-in-Death began to throw dice, and the woman won, whereupon she whistled
three times, causing the sun to sink to the horizon, the stars to instantly
emerge. As the moon rose, chased by a single star, the sailors dropped dead one
by one—all except the Mariner, whom each sailor cursed “with his eye” before
dying. The souls of the dead men leapt from their bodies and rushed by the
Mariner.
63. SUMMARY PART - 4The Wedding-Guest declares that he
fears the Mariner, with his glittering eye and his skinny hand. The Mariner
reassures the Wedding-Guest that there is no need for dread; he was not among
the men who died, and he is a living man, not a ghost. Alone on the ship,
surrounded by two hundred corpses, the Mariner was surrounded by the slimy sea
and the slimy creatures that crawled across its surface. He tried to pray but
was deterred by a “wicked whisper” that made his heart “as dry as dust.” He closed
his eyes, unable to bear the sight of the dead men, each of who glared at him
with the malice of their final curse. For seven days and seven nights the
Mariner endured the sight, and yet he was unable to die. At last the moon rose,
casting the great shadow of the ship across the waters; where the ship’s shadow
touched the waters, they burned red. The great water snakes moved through the
silvery moonlight, glittering; blue, green, and black, the snakes coiled and
swam and became beautiful in the Mariner’s eyes. He blessed the beautiful
creatures in his heart; at that moment, he found himself able to pray, and the
corpse of the Albatross fell from his neck, sinking “like lead into the sea.”
64. SUMMARY PART - 5The Mariner continues telling his
story to the Wedding-Guest. Free of the curse of the Albatross, the Mariner was
able to sleep, and as he did so, the rains came, drenching him. The moon broke
through the clouds, and a host of spirits entered the dead men’s bodies, which
began to move about and perform their old sailors’ tasks. The ship was
propelled forward as the Mariner joined in the work. The Wedding-Guest declares
again that he is afraid of the Mariner, but the Mariner tells him that the
men’s bodies were inhabited by blessed spirits, not cursed souls. At dawn, the
bodies clustered around the mast, and sweet sounds rose up from their mouths—
the sounds of the spirits leaving their bodies. The spirits flew around the
ship, singing. The ship continued to surge forward until noon, driven by the spirit
from the land of mist and snow, nine fathoms deep in the sea. At noon, however,
the ship stopped, then began to move backward and forward as if it were trapped
in a tug of war. Finally, it broke free, and the Mariner fell to the deck with
the jolt of sudden acceleration. He heard two disembodied voices in the air;
one asked if he was the man who had killed the Albatross, and the other
declared softly that he had done penance for his crime and would do more
penance before all was rectified.
65. SUMMARY PART - 6In dialogue, the two voices
discussed the situation. The moon overpowered the sea, they said, and enabled
the ship to move; an angelic power moved the ship northward at an astonishingly
rapid pace. When the Mariner awoke from his trance, he saw the dead men
standing together, looking at him. But a breeze rose up and propelled the ship
back to its native country, back to the Mariner’s home; he recognized the kirk,
the hill, and the lighthouse. As they neared the bay, seraphs—figures made of
pure light—stepped out of the corpses of the sailors, which fell to the deck.
Each seraph waved at the Mariner, who was powerfully moved. Soon, he heard the
sound of oars; the Pilot, the Pilot’s son, and the holy Hermit were rowing out
toward him. The Mariner hoped that the Hermit could shrive (absolve) him of his
sin, washing the blood of the Albatross off his soul.
66. SUMMARY PART - 7The Hermit,
a holy man who lived in the woods and loved to talk to mariners from strange
lands, had encouraged the Pilot and his son not to be afraid and to row out to
the ship. But as they reached the Mariner’s ship, it sank in a sudden
whirlpool, leaving the Mariner afloat and the Pilot’s rowboat spinning in the
wake. The Mariner was loaded aboard the Pilot’s ship, and the Pilot’s boy, mad
with terror, laughed hysterically and declared that the devil knows how to row.
On land, the Mariner begged the Hermit to shrive him, and the Hermit bade the
Mariner tell his tale. Once it was told, the Mariner was free from the agony of
his guilt. However, the guilt returned over time and persisted until the
Mariner travelled to a new place and told his tale again. The moment he comes
upon the man to whom he is destined to tell his tale, he knows it, and he has
no choice but to relate the story then and there to his appointed audience; the
Wedding-Guest is one such person. The church doors burst open, and the wedding
party streams outside. The Mariner declares to the Wedding-Guest that he who
loves all God’s creatures leads a happier, better life; he then takes his
leave. The Wedding-Guest walks away from the party, stunned, and awakes the
next morning “a sadder and a wiser man.”
Wordsworth as poet of
Nature:
All the poets of the Romantic school, Wordsworth being the
most prominent among them, were lovers of nature, and represented the various
aspects of beauty and truth embodied in nature. Wordsworth is, indeed, one of
the world's most loving, penetrative and thoughtful poets of nature. His vision
of nature is comprehensive and all embracing. There is hardly a sight or a
sound, from a violet to a mountain and from a bird note to the thunder of a
cataract that is not reflected in some beautiful way in Wordsworth's poetry.
Wordsworth's nature poetry is characterised by accuracy of
observation and truthfulness of representation. He is content to describe the
bird and the flower, the wind and the tree, the river and the mountain, just as
they are, and is content to let them speak their own message. He can actualise
a scene faithfully, and give a subtle expression to the sensuous delight of the
world of nature; for example, he can describe the joy of the daffodils:
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of the bay:
………………………………
The waves beside them danced, but they
outdid the sparkling waves in glee.
Rickett writes: "Wordsworth is the poet of the ear
just as Shelley is the poet of the eye, and never more felicitous than in
conveying some phase of silence, tone of sound."
Shelley said that Wordsworth has awakened "a kind of
thought in sense." W. J. Long writes: "He had not only sight, but
insight, that is, he not only sees clearly and describes accurately, but
penetrates to the heart of things and always finds some exquisite meaning that
is not written on the surface Nothing is ugly or commonplace in his world; on
the contrary, there is hardly one natural phenomenon which he has not glorified
by pointing out some beauty that was hidden from our eyes."
According to Wordsworth Nature is a moral teacher and guide
to man. She is both law and impulse, and kindles and restrains. She is a
comforter and consoler of man. She is the guardian and guide of man's heart,
the giver of purest thoughts:
One impulse from the vernal wood
May teach you more of man
Of moral evil and of good
Than all the sages can.
Nature is vibrant with joy. The hare runs races in her mirth,
the flowers enjoy the air they breathe, the waves dance beside the daffodils.
The moon doth with delight
Look around her when the heavens are bare,
Waters on a starry night
Are beautiful and fair.
There is peace everywhere in the domain of Nature. Wordsworth
sees in Nature
Central peace subsisting at the heart
of endless agitation.
Wordsworth recognises life in Nature. She is not only alive
but has a personality. It is she who gives to every thing—to the flower, the
valley or the hill—its special life, its separate soul. The poem "Three
years she grew in sun and shower" shows how nature has a distinct personality,
and how she makes her whole world unite to educate Lucy. She is the poetic
impersonation of an actual being, the form which the poet gives to the living
spirit of God in the outward world:
Wisdom and spirit of the universe:
Thou soul that art the Eternity of Thought:
And gives to forms and images a breath
And everlasting motion.
This is God, living, moving and rejoicing in all his works.
His dwelling is:
the light of setting suns
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky and in the mind of man.
The whole of the universe is thus permeated with one life,
one soul. Nature' is the reflection of the living God. S. A. Brooke writes:
"Wordsworth conceived as poet that Nature was alive. It had, he imagined
one living soul which, entering into flower, stream or mountain, gave them each
a soul of their own. Between the spirit in nature'and the mind of man there was
a prearranged harmony which enabled nature to communicate its own thoughts to
man, and man to reflect upon them, until an absolute union between them was
established."
William Wordsworth considers himself as a Poet of Nature or
rather a pantheist. His poem, Tintern Abbey which is an autobiographical work
throws light on the poet's love for Nature. He describes the plain beside the
River Wye in Tintern Abbey as well as his state of mind and perception about
Nature. His devotion and love towards Nature is expressed without any barrier
or restraint coming in between.
The poet considers himself as a worshipper of nature in
Tintern Abbey. It seems nature brings out the best that's inherent in the poet.
The sight of the "sportive woods run wild" gives him a sense of
freedom and sublimity. According to the poet, nature is an all engulfing
entity, and he considers himself as a follower of nature. Tintern Abbey gives a
vivid sketch of his progress for the love nature. The description which it
gives convinces and impacts one profoundly.
The poet believes in the restorative power of nature and says
that, nature can restore and mend the sick with her 'soothing palm'. Amidst the
'dins' and noise of the 'hectic city' the poet conjures up the image of the
'serene Wye' which always unfailingly revives his tired limbs and soul. He
feels the healing power of nature in his 'heart' and senses it flowing through
his blood. He is a part of nature and at one with her. Nature has a way of
repairing and restoring herself when damaged and bruised, and Wordsworth as a
devoted follower of nature has succeeded in losing himself in perfect harmony
with her.
In the poem, Tintern Abbey he also describes his growth and
development along with the forces of nature. Nature had played a dominant role
during his growing years. Even when still a young boy he had discovered the
generously given joy and blessings of nature. In the presence of nature, he
became an untamed boy, full of energy and lightness. There had been a time when
he had 'like a roe' bounded over the hills and plains following the path of
nature "more like a man running from something he dreads". These
experiences of free-spiritedness and submission to the lure and beckons of
nature gave him immense enlightenment and relieve from the stress and burns of
reality.
His love for nature during his youth went a notch higher. It
was more like a man's love for his sweetheart. Nature was like a beautiful
maiden and Wordsworth, no doubt, sported a healthy blush on the cheeks whenever
he is in the presence of nature. "The sounding cataract" and the deep
and dark woods haunted him "like a passion". This love for nature
still went another notch higher when he attained manhood. The love and
interpretation of nature grew more profound at this stage. He discovered nature
as a living entity 'whose dwelling is the light of the setting sun, the round
ocean, and the living air'. Nature, he realized was an omnipotent force. What
he experienced during his youthful days was replaced by the 'serene mood' and
the 'sublime feelings'. He began to see nature as his source for emancipation
and deliverance, 'knowing that, nature never did betray the heart that loved
her'. here the word, 'knowing' carries the full force of his conviction
regarding the dependability of nature. The word is enough to convince one about
the nature of his love for nature, and there is no argument in the authenticity
of his views about nature..
Hence, in Tintern Abbey we see that, Wordsworth had the right
knowledge about nature which gave him enough reasons to become a pantheist or a
"Worshipper of nature". There is no doubt that, nature happened to be
the force and inspiration in moulding and creation of a legendary figure in the
History of English Literature-William Wordsworth.
More
The poet is revisiting the banks of river Wye after a gap and
this time he is accompanied by his younger sister. Describing the scene he says
that there is greenery all around and even the hedges are no more than wood
running wild and there is the soft sound of the water of the river. He can see
some smoke rising up from the trees and most probably it is some temporary
dwellers or a hermit who has camped for a while. Nature acts as a source of
inspiration and peace even when he is away in the city and he owes a lot to
her. She brings peace and arouses feelings of kindness that lead one to perform
little nameless acts of helping others and he owes sweet sensations to her.
Nature impacts him in a way that he goes into a trance where his body seems to
sleep while his spirit meanings. Finally, he arrived at a stage where he could
hear the sad music of humanity and mysteries of the world were unburdened;
moreover, he could now feel that it was the same spirit that connected people,
animals and Nature and flowed through the whole universe. Nature now was the
nurse, the guard and the guardian of his life. In the company of his elder
sister he rememembers his youth and how when he was her age as she is wide eyed
at the beauty around her. He tells his sister that Nature never betrays those
who love her. Once a person learns to love Nature he is not affected by adverse
comments or criticism of people. He advises his sister to soak in all she can
see and assures her that in future if she has to face hardships in life she will
remember that moment and it will give her courage and peace. Wordsworth then
tells her that if in future they are away from each other they will both
remember that visit and to him that scene will bring joy because he will
rememember he had shared the moment with her.
Wordsworth is seen as one of the pioneers of the Romantic
Movement but he was the first to have considered to be the highest form of
literature was mostly written to commemorate great heroes or great love and
before Wordsworth’s age, it was employed to point out the ills of the upper
classes. Wordsworth made a move away from heroes to write about ordinary
peasants and shepherds; he chose to write about Nature and daffodils or linnets
rather than about society. The third major change was that he decided to
concentrate on personal thoughts and feelings and moved towards lyricism.
“That time is past,
And all its acting joys are now no more,
And all its dizzy raptures.”
The present poem is a testimony to his love of Nature. He
describes the various stages in his relation with Nature from the time he was a
young boy. As a boy his pleasures were of a course nature and he talks of ‘glad
animal movements’ and when a youth, Nature was a thing of beauty, an appetite
for lovely colours and sounds and it stopped here, but of as he grew older,
Nature acquired supreme importance equal only to that of God. He now looked
upon Nature as the nurse, the guard and guardian of his heart and soul. It is
noteworthy that he uses the definite article ‘the’ in place of the indefinite
‘a’. He seems to imply that Nature is not one of the guardians but the only one
that shows him the way to being a moral person and Nature protects him from
harsh cruelties of other people. His final word on Nature is that she never
betrays the heart that loves her. It is Nature that has brought him closer to
human beings and he can now hear the still sad music of humanity. Being amongst
trees and rivers lifts his spirit and he is able to go in a trance where he
forgets his physical being and gets connected to Nature.
“The gods approve
The depth, and not the tumult of the soul
A fervent, not ungovernable love”.
In the beginning of the poem, the poet has drawn a very vivid
picture of greenery with expressions like ‘unripe fruit’ and while talking of
pastoral farms he talks of green to the door and the hedge rows are sportive
wood growing wildly. We are reminded of the kind of greenery we see after
Monsoons when greenery erupts even in wall cracks. Wordsworth has created many
such imaged in the poem which makes it an experience and brings the readers
closer to Nature. Unlike his other poems, this poem is written in language that
is not very simple but the subject matter demanded that. The love for Nature
and his sister both come across clearly through the words and the poem captures
us by the genuine sentiments expressed. He employs a lot of negatives like ‘not
unborrowed from the eyes’, ‘has not been to me as is a landscape to a blind
man’s eye’. The poem has some vivid images like that of water falling with an
‘inland murmur’ and smoke coming out of a vagrant dweller’s hut.
“May my life
Express the image of a better time,
More wise desires and simplest manners.”
Pantheism
and Mysticismare almost interrelated factors in Nature poetry of the
Romantic period. Wordsworth conceives of a spiritual power running through all
natural objects-the “presence that
disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts”whose dwelling is the light
of setting suns, the rolling ocean, the living air, the blue sky, and the mind
of man (Tintern Abbey). The rocks, brooks, mountains, winds, sky and clouds are
symbols and signs of Eternity, and “Characters of the Apocalypse.” (The Simplon
Pass). When the sudden awareness of this spirit behind all living things comes
on the poet, his flesh seems to melt and he becomes a “living soul”, able to
understand the truth of things.
Along with the interest in nature and the belief in a
spiritual power in Nature came the deepening interest in the common folk, the
rustics and the peasants. Wordsworth’s poetry is full of such
character-Michael, the Cumberland beggar, or the leech gatherer. This interest
is partly Wordsworth’s case; it was also prompted by his conviction that in
these simple folk the elemental passions and human feelings is and are
uncorrupted by the influences of city life.
“So hand in hand they pass’d, the loveliest pair
That ever since in love’s embraces met,…”
Thus the child can enjoy the joys of Nature, but as he grows
up, material concerns dim the “visionary gleam” which could instinctively
divine truths. The Leech-gatherer, living close to Nature, has gained strength
of mind and courage. Lucy, growing up in the lap of Nature, is beautiful in
appearance as well as character. Wordsworth‘s conception of poetry is given in
his Preface to the Lyrical Ballads where he says: “Poetry is the spontaneous
overflow of powerful feelings; it takes its origin from emotion recollected in
tranquility.” Poetry thus evolves from the feelings of the poet and there is an
unforced quality (spontaneity) about it. Powerful feeling and emotion are
fundamental to poetic creation. This is a theory which is a sure departure from
eighteenth century practice-thus Wordsworth had to create a taste for the kind
of poetry he was to write. He was a poet with a programme to wean public taste
from neo-classical tenets.
“Our meddling intellect
His shapes the beauteous forms of things-
We murder to dissect,”
When, however, Wordsworth carried simplicity too far, it
could result in banality- as in the line, “The silent heavens have goings on”.
The thorn is famous for the prosaic lines measuring the pond, but of it was
only at his uninspired moments that he produced flat sounding lines. It has to
be remembered, however, that most of the flatness is part of his fearless
search for a diction, which would take a sort of photograph or recording of
experience itself, not just the scene but the emotion connected with the scene.
“If this
Be but a vain belief, yet, oh! how oft-
In darkness and amid the many shapes
Wordsworth is a special-advocate of this theory. The child
living in the lap of Nature, according to him, will grow in moral stature.
Three years she grew in sun and shower tells us of how Lucy grew to perfection,
nurtured by Nature. In the Ode on the Intimations of Immortality, Wordsworth
speaks of the joy that a child finds in being close to Nature.
It is widely accepted fact that Wordsworth was a great poet
of Nature. However, his uniqueness lies in the fact that he has presented in
his poetry an impressive and emotionally satisfying account of man’s relation
to Nature. All created things are part of a unified whole in his concept.
In boyhood, Wordsworth felt an animal pleasure in nature.
Like a deer, he ran races over the mountains, and on the banks of rivers and
streams. It seemed as if he was running away from nature. The fact was that he
loved nature.
The sight of natural objects or a common human being leaves
an impression on the poet’s highly sensitive mind. Wordsworth never composed
poetry as soon as he saw something which impressed him. We get to know from
Dorothy’s diary that they both met a leech-gatherer. Long before Wordsworth
wrote Resolution and Independence. It was only on remembering the meeting-
“recollected in tranquility”- that Wordsworth wrote the poem. Then the incident
is transmuted, coloured by Wordsworth’s imagination, purified of extraneous
elements and reduced to its elemental factor. The leech-gatherer is placed in
the vast desolate moor to stand for courage, resilence, dignity and strength of
mind, to create a feeling first of wonder and then of consolation in the poet’s
heart.
“Perhaps the plaintive numbers flow,
For old, unhappy, far-off things,
And battles long ago.”
Thus Wordsworth had a definite theory of poetic creation,
different from earlier theories. Of course, an expressive theory, and one based
on “communication”, it is often illustrated in practice by his poetry.
“I chanced to see at break of day
The solitary child’
“No mate, no comrade Lucy knew.”
Similarly, The Simplon Pass was born out of Wordsworth’s
journey across the Alps, but of it recreates the feelings evoked by the
mountain, sky, waterfalls and winds, the tumult and the peace. In Tintern
Abbey, we read of how the scene the poet once saw is recollected by him and
helps to evoke the same feeling of peace and comfort in him. Elegiac Stanzas
also derive from Wordsworth’s personal experience. He speaks of how once he saw
Nature only as calm and joyful. However, he has later realized the truth of
feeling evoked by George Beaumont’s picture of Peele Castle in the storm.
Contemplation of the scene evoked by his memory brings about an overflow of
feeling, and in that emotional state, he composes his poetry.
“Nor less, I trust,
To them I may have owed another gift,
Of aspect more sublime;”
Poetic creation involves recollecting the original object of
observation, contemplation, renewal of the original emotion evoked, and finally
composition when the feeling is intense and overflowing. The purpose of poetry
is to communicate the feelings to the reader and thus impart pleasure which
will also teach something.
“While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.”
In the second stage, nature became all in all to the poet.
The sounding cataract (waterfall) haunted him like a passion. Nature was his
beloved. He felt a deep love for the tall rocks, mountains and the jungle. He
loved the sights and sounds of Nature. He cared only for the outward beauty of
nature, which he saw with eyes and ears. He looked at nature with a painter’s
eye.
“…and again I hear
These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs
With a soft inland murmur,-‘’
To Wordsworth, as to all mystics, life does not begin or end
in the ordinary sense. The soul of Man is immortal, as is the spirit of nature,
for both are the immanent spirit of God, the Eternal Being, “of first, and
last, and mist, and without end”, as he says in The Simplon Pass. It is the
idea that man’s soul is immortal which informs the Ode on the Intimations of
Immortality. The child sees a divine light in Nature because of his
recollections of his heavenly life before he came on earth. Later on, Man can
perceive the truth by recollecting the experience of his childhood.
It would be difficult to get the intrinsic quality of a
person as a human being unless these artificialities are all removed. Such a
difficulty does not arise in the case of persons who live a humble life like
that of the leech-gatherer, and have no trappings to cover their essential nature.
So it is that a leech-gatherer, was able to impress Wordsworth much more than
any of the sophisticated section of humanity he often met within towns. This
explains Wordsworth’s great desire to be in greater communion with natural
objects uncorrupted by artificial civilization, in order to attain the harmony
of the soul.
In The Thorn, Nature is seen as a symbol of the human
situation. The old and aged thorn exposed to the winter gales is similar to the
wretched woman who sits by it and moans by day and night, under the sun or the
stars.
The tragic figure seems to come to a union with the elements:
“A worshipper of Nature, hither came
Unwearied in that service: rather say
With warmer love-oh! With far deeper zeal
Of holier love.”
In the third stage, he no longer cared for the pictorial
beauty of nature. Now he came to read the ‘hidden meaning’ of nature. In the
running water of the brook, he heard the still, sad music of humanity. The
water of the brook gave him the idea of the tears and troubles of humanity.
Wordsworth believed in an internal harmony between man and
Nature, because the same conscious spirit that dwelt in the ocean and the blue
sky lived in the mind of man: “God in man spoke to God in Nature, spoke to God
in Man.” It is necessary not to stress on any one element in Worrdsworth’s
poetry, for the naturalistic, humanistic and theistic components are equally
important. The three together lead to his belief in the “motherhood of Nature,
the brotherhood of Man, the fatherhood of God”. His Nature-mysticism and
pantheism is not severed from his sympathy with fellow human beings. Nature
speaks to him of the “still sad music of humanity”.
Wordsworth as a pantheist
Mysticism: To this
natural philosophy of man Wordsworth adds a mystic element, the result of his
own belief that in every natural object there is a reflection of the living
God. The commonest things in nature and human life are not common and
trivial—they are symbols of Eternity. To discover behind the diverse forms and
phenomena of nature the One Inseparable and Changeless—this was the mystic note
in Wordsworth. Both nature and man must be "spiritually discovered".
In Tintern Abbey the spiritual appeal of nature is expressed in almost every
line. In it he tells us he is inspired by:
A presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts, a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused
Whose dwelling is the light of the setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky and in the mind of man.
The central faith — that an unbroken chain binds all things
in the outward world, and that the spirit of man can commune with God through
Nature — informs all his poetry. Therefore his heart can as well dance with
daffodils as leap with delight when he beholds a rainbow in the sky. Tintern
Abbey is the finest expression of Wordsworth's spiritualism. The metaphysical
aspect of his poetry is revealed in the Ode on the Intimations of Immortality.
In the words of Moody and Lovett: "The Ode: Intimations of Immortality is
the poem in which the speculation is the boldest. In this ode, which Emerson
called "the high watermark of poetry in the nineteenth century", the
poet looks back with passionate regret to the lost radiance of his childhood, and
tries to connect childhood reassuringly not only with manhood and old age, but
also with a previous existence, whence it brings its aura of innocence and joy.
The poem is a product of that majestic kind of metaphysical imagination which
transcends space and time and makes
Our noisy
years seem moments in the being
Of the
eternal silence."
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