The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as full of the Supernatural elements.
The supernatural elements actually
appear with the albatross, which has arrived in order to help guide the
Mariner's ship through a fog bank. When the Ancient Mariner kills the
albatross, he has not only violated concepts of gratitude and hospitality, he
has, on a whim, killed a living being that has come to same him and his ship.
I believe we are meant to see the albatross, in part, in a Christian
context--like Christ, who came to earth to save us, the albatross arrives to
save the mariners and their ship, and the reward for this generosity is his
execution.
Nature itself becomes relentlessly
supernatural after the killing of the albatross: the wind stops, temperatures
climb, drinking water runs out. These are not merely problems for a ship
at sea; they are all life-threatening. The crew, sensing its own complicity
in the Mariner's action, decide to hang the albatross around his neck, an
allusion to the concept of the Judeo-Christian scapegoat, who wears an amulet
representing the sins of the people and is sent into the desert to die for
everyone's sins.
As we know, several horrific
supernatural elements seal the fate of the ship and crew--slimy snakes from the
bottom of the ocean come to the ship; a ghost-ship, with the figures of Death
and Death-in-Life, arrives and the entire crew dies (Death) but the Mariner
remains alive (Death-in-Life).
The Mariner's salvation comes when
he, unconsciously and full of pity, blesses the slimy sea snakes, and the
albatross falls from his neck, an indication that Nature and/or God has
forgiven his original sin of killing the albatross. His penance, however,
is not complete, for he has to keep telling his story, first to the hermit on
the pilot boat and then to the Wedding Guest. It's only after the
repeated telling of this awful tale that the Ancient Mariner achieves some
peace. Unfortunately, the Wedding Guest is negatively affected by the
tale, avoids the wedding, and wakes up the next day "a sadder and wiser
man."
The supernatural elements, then,
themselves contain elements of Nature's wrath at wanton cruelty, as well as
implicitly Christian elements, that together create the retribution the Mariner
suffers and the salvation he is offered at the end.
The greatness of S. T.
Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner lies chiefly in the technique
by which the supernatural has been made believable and convincing. There are a
number of impossible, incredible, and fantastic situations in the poem. The
fascinating power in Mariner’s gaze, the sudden appearance of the mysterious
skeleton ship, the spectre- woman and her mate, the coming back of life to the
dead crew, the sudden sinking of the ship, the polar spirits talking to each
other- all these and other supernatural incidents are scattered in the poem.
With these supernatural elements the poet has artistically interwoven
convincing pictures of Nature like the sun shining brightly at the outset, the
mist and snow surrounding the ship, the freezing cold of the Artic region,
slimy creatures creeping upon the sea, the moon going up the sky with a star or
two beside it, the water snakes moving in the water in a variety of colors. The
natural and supernatural, the real and fantastic, the possible ad the
impossible have been so skillfully and artistically mingled that the whole
strikesus as quite convincing and credible.
This literary ballad clearly
contains many fantastical elements that are obviously supernatural. Important
to note is the way that Coleridge in this poem creates a spirit that embodies
Nature itself, called the Polar Spirit, that pursues the ship and rains down
suffering and punishment on the vessel because of the thoughtless act of the
Mariner in killing the albatross. However, arguably these supernatural elements
are used as a way of presenting the torments that guilt can inflict on the
human soul and the terrible expiation necessary for those who sin against
nature in such a shocking fashion.
Of course, the pain and guilt
experienced by the Mariner are a product of the pain and guilt of Coleridge
himself, as suffered through his opium addiction, and so we are left to wonder
if the fantastical elements that feature so strongly in this poem are dreamt up
out of the opium-fevered imagination of its author. Either way, the
supernatural elements show the force of The Polar Spirit, representing Nature,
and the danger of taking Nature for granted.
The setting of the poem is natural,
known to all. With a view to giving his story an air of plausibility, Coleridge
gives accurate description of his nature. In the AM every phase of landscape,
seascape and cloudscape is touched upon. The bright sun, the “Kirk” or church,
the hill, the lighthouse, the cheerful onlookers at the harbor, the wedding
guest, the marriage ceremony, the storm blast in the sea, the mist and snow of
the Arctic region and many other natural elements are there in the setting of
the story. All these natural phenomena have been made very convincing.
In this natural setting are set the
supernatural incidents. A terrible storm hit and forced the ship southwards.
The “storm blast” was “tyrannous and strong’ and struck the ship with”overtaking
wings”. Then the sailors reached a calm patch of sea that was “wondrous cold”
full of snow and glistering green icebergs” as tall as the ship’s mast.
And now there came both mist and
snow, And it grew wondrous cold. The sailors were the only living things in
this frightening, enclosed world where the ice made terrible groaning sounds
that echoed all around.
The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and
growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a sound!
In his Ancient Mariner, Coleridge often blends the real and unreal in order to
create a supernatural world. Here we see the story at first is given a known,
familiar setting but soon it passes into an unreal world. The reader is not
disturbed by this smooth transition from the real to the unreal world but
indulges himself in the “willing suspension of disbelief”.
However, finally an albatross
emerged from the mist, and the sailors received it as a sign of good luck, as
though it were a “Christian soul” sent by God to save them. No sooner than the
sailors fed the albatross did the ice break apart, allowing the captain to
steer out of the freezing world. The wind picked up again and continued for
nine days. All the while the bird followed the ship, ate the food the sailors
gave it and played with them. But at this favorable moment the mariner did a
hellish thing. He shot the bird with his cross bow.
From the moment the mariner kills
the bird retribution comes in the form of natural phenomena. The wind dies, the
sun intensifies and it will not rain. The ocean becomes “revolting”, “rotting”
and “thrashing” with “slimy” creatures and sizzling with strange fires.
Coleridge depicts tactfully how
nature punishes supernaturally for killing its innocent member. Before the sun
was “bright” but now it has become
“the bloody sun.” in a “hot and
copper sky”.
All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon.
The nature continues punishing the mariners. The wind refuses to blow, and the
sun’s relentless heat chars the men.
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breathe nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean
This hot sun makes the mariners thirsty but they have no drinkable water.
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
The mariner lives like Tantalus. They need water badly and it is all around
them but it is entirely undrinkable. The throats became “unslaked” and “lips
baked” under the hot sun.
We
could not speak, no more than if
We
had been choked with soot.
The shipmates, in their sore distress, throw the whole guilt on the ancient
Mariner and in sign they hang the dead sea-bird round his neck.
‘Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About
my neck was hung.’
The time is weary and long. They have nothing to do but suffer only.
A weary time ! a weary time !
How
glazed each weary eye,
When
looking westward, I beheld
A
something in the sky.
A mysterious ship arrives. When the ship is sighted in the distance, the
sailors feel happy to think that the will now get water to quench their burning
thirst.
‘I
bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And
cried, A sail ! a sail !’
But in a few moments they discover
the reality of the ship. The crew consists of Death and Life- in- death.
The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was
she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
Coleridge beautifully depicts the mental suffering of the Mariner under this
condition:-
“Fear at my heart, as at a cup
My life blood seemed to sip.”
The suffering becomes even more painful when all his fellow men dropped down
one by one. And the soul of each passes by him with the sound like that of his
arrow that killed the Albatross.
“They dropped down one by one.”
For seven days and nights the mariner remained alone on the ship.
Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea !
The dead sailors, who miraculously did not rot, continued to curse him with
their open eyes which intensified his inner guilt.
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that
curse,
And yet I could not die.
His surroundings- the ship, the ocean, and the creatures within it are
“rotting’ in the heat and sun, but he is the one who is rotten on the inside. Coleridge
beautifully portrays how he suffer from acute mental distress when he tried to
pray but could not do so, how he felt the horror of the curse in the dead men’s
eyes, how the sky and the sea lay like a heavy load on his weary eyes, and how
finally he felt relief. This is exactly what any man would suffer under similar
circumstances. By portraying mariner’s mental states, Coleridge produces the
realistic effect.
During his lonely days he spent his
times by watching the little creatures on the ice. The mariner spontaneously
recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes, his heart fills with love for them and
he can bless them “unaware”
“A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware”
Only when the mariner is able to
appreciate the beauty of the natural world, he is granted the ability to pray.
The moment he begins to view the natural world benevolently, his spiritual
thirst is quenched. As a sign, the albatross- the burden of sin falls from his
neck.
‘The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.’
It finally rains and his thrust is
quenched.
‘My lips were wet, my throat was
cold,
My garments all were dank”
The ship suddenly began to move
towards the native land of the old sailor. Ultimately the ship reached near the
harbor. It sank suddenly and the old sailor was rescued from the disaster.
Thus from the above discussion it is
quite clear that, the triumph of “The rime of the ancient Mariner” confines in
presenting a series of incredible events in a convincing and credible way by
the use of natural setting, logic of cause and effect, melody and psychological
truth.
During his lonely days he spent his
times by watching the little creatures on the ice. The mariner spontaneously
recognizes the beauty of the sea snakes, his heart fills with love for them and
he can bless them “unaware” Only when the mariner is able to appreciate the
beauty of the natural world, he is granted the ability to pray. The moment he
begins to view the natural world benevolently, his spiritual thirst is
quenched. As a sign, the albatross- the burden of sin falls from his neck. It
finally rains and his thrust is quenched. The ship suddenly began to move
towards the native land of the old sailor. Ultimately the ship reached near the
harbor. It sank suddenly and the old sailor was rescued from the disaster. Thus
from the above discussion it is quite clear that, the triumph of “The rime of
the ancient Mariner” confines in presenting a series of incredible events in a
convincing and credible way by the use of natural setting, logic of cause and
effect, melody and psychological truth.
On the above discussion we can say
that there are many kinds of supernatural elements are found here.
