The Rime of The Ancient Mariner Summary | ST Coleridge

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Read this article to know about The Rime of The Ancient Mariner Summary by S. T. Coleridge.

Introduction

The story “The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” is written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Samuel Coleridge was the founder of the English Romantic Movement and also was the friend of William Wordsworth. 

His well-known poems are “Kubla Khan” and “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of the longest poems of Samuel which was written in 1797-98 and published in 1798.

This story is inspired by a variety of ways since it was created in 1797-98. Majority of the people thought that time that it is an expression of nature violation. Some of them understood that it’s related to the religious text some otherwise. A question of symbolization arises of both the Mariner and albatross.

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner Summary

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a summary about three guys who are on their way to a wedding celebration when an old sailor (the Mariner) stops one of them at the door-steps (Who will be called the Wedding Guest). 

He uses his mesmerizing eyes to hold all the attention of Wedding Guest and starts telling him a story about the unfortunate and destructive journey that he took. The Guest wants to go to the celebration, but he doesn’t seem to pry himself away from this old mariner.

The Mariner begins his story.

They leave the port and ship sails down near Antarctica to keep themselves safe from the severe storm. But suddenly they get themselves caught in a deadly foggy course. An albatross shows up to steer them into the fog and provides them good winds, but the mariner decides to shoot it. 

Soon the sailor loses their wind, and it gets really hot. They run out of the water. Now at this point, everybody blames the Mariner. The ship seems hunted by a cruel spirit, and weird stuff starts appearing, they see the slimy creatures walking on the sea.

Mariner’s crew decides to hand the albatross body around his neck to remind him of his grave mistake that he made. Due to his mistake, everyone is dying due to thirst. Mariner happened to see another ship is sailing at some distance from his ship. 

He desires and tries to yell out loudly, but his mouth is too dry to yell. To moisten his lips, he sucked his own blood. He thinks that they are safe now. But sadly the ship is a ghost ship and piloted by two spirits.  Then starts the game of death. 

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Who wants to save himself?  Who has to be the last member you want to meet on a journey?

Everyone dies on the mariner’s ship. The guest realizes, “Oh! You are a ghost”! But the Mariner replies him patiently, saying “well I am the only one who didn’t die that day.” After that, he continues his ballad and says he’s on the boat with all the dead bodies full of slimy spirits surrounded by an ocean.

Severe, these slimy things are nasty water snakes. Mariner unconsciously escapes his course by the blessings the hideous snakes and the dropping blood drop of albatross from his neck into the sea.

The Mariner falls into sleep, and when he wakes up, it’s raining. A storm strikes up in some distance, and he sees all his crew members floating on the water like zombies. Sailors don’t come back to life. It seems the supernatural spirits and angels fill their bodies and push the boat. 

The Mariner hears some voices, saying that how cruelly he killed the albatross and still he has more sufferings. These mysterious voices explain all the situation that how the ship is moving.

The Mariner says that he still has the same painful need to tell all the story. That is why he stopped that guest on this very occasion. In the end, Mariner says that he needs to learn how to express his love, how to say prayers, how to live people and many other things. Then he goes back home and wakes up the next day, just like the famous lines go “a sadder and wiser man.”