¶ … SYMBOLIC THEMES OF MYSTERY AND THE SUPERNATURAL IN SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE'S
RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER
In Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," considered by many scholars as the quintessential masterpiece of English Romantic poetry, the symbolic themes of mystery and the supernatural play a very crucial role in the poem's overall effect which John Hill Spencer sees as Coleridge's "attempt to understand the mystery surrounding the human soul in a universe moved by forces and powers... immanent and transcendent" (157). Yet the Mariner himself appears to be trapped in this supernatural world as a result of ghostly manifestations which emanate from the realms of the unknown.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was first published in Lyrical Ballads in 1798, a collection of poetry written and published jointly by Coleridge and his good friend William Wordsworth. Yet the text of the poem generally in use today appeared in Sibylline Leaves in 1817. The narrative in "Rime" is based on many sources and some of the ideas expressed in the poem were inspired by other pieces of verse read by Coleridge. The central action, however, seems to have been suggested by Wordsworth, who was familiar with Shelvocke's A Voyage Round the World by the Way of the Great South Sea (1726) which describes the killing of an albatross by an anonymous mariner during some very bad weather. According to the Reverend Alexander Dyce, a close associate of Wordsworth, "Rime" was initially based on a strange dream experienced by John Cruikshank in which he beheld a ship manned by a skeleton crew.
As Graham Davidson points out, the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" "reads as a supernatural poem in which the representation of the real... is secondary to the representation of spiritual realities" (134). This observation can be supported by examining a number of crucial stanzas that contain images and symbolic themes related to mystery and the supernatural, such as the strange weather encountered by the ship (1.11-12), the land of ice and snow (1. 14-15), the appearance of the albatross as a sign of good omen (1.16-18), the death of the albatross at the hands of the Mariner (1. 19-20), the revenge of the albatross...
In O'Connor short story, "A Good Man is Hard to Find," the antagonist is an outlaw, in keeping with the frequent use of alienated members of society in Romantic poetry and literature. The alienated member of society is contrasted with the crass materialism and superficiality of the family the Misfit kills. The child June Star is so poorly brought up that she says: "I wouldn't live in a broken-down
The urn is a symbol to him of all great works of art which, picturing beauty, will always reflect truth to those who behold them. To Keats "beauty is truth, truth beauty," and art is the balm which soothes his fevered soul. He died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis. Wordsworth, who lived longer than the other poets, dying at the age of 80, was the leading poet of
Romanticism American Romantic poet and author Edgar Allan Poe Poe is one of the early American poets of Romantic literature. In the poem Annabel Lee he uses idealism in Romance language to describe a relationship with a woman in first person. A description of the adult lovers as children most likely represent innocence or naivety. The Romanticism comes in by comparing the couple to elements of nature. The love that the two
William Wordsworth as the quintessential Romantic poet - a man in love with the idea of a simple life lived close to nature - that we are apt to overlook the fact that his relationship with nature is in fact a somewhat ambivalent one, or at least a complex one. While Wordsworth will always be known for the clarity and undiluted Romanticism of "Tintern Abbey," to assume that his
WILLIAM BLAKE'S MILTON-TRANSFORMATION The great Romantic poet, William Blake, is known for his revolutionary ideas and his fiery attacks on everything he opposed. His work is usually not very complex in nature but since it is connected with the infinite and discusses some imaginary elements, one needs to read his poems more than once to make sense of them. This is exactly what is required when reading Blake's Milton, a poem
The work expresses with clear honesty the need to express, reality and pain, in Wordworthian values. The expression of the work is poignant and clear, as the washerwoman goes through the process of noticing nature, as a guide for time rather than as something she is able to explore at leisure. The woman and the poet explored leisure, in only those available times when she was not otherwise needed
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now