Choose a motif (colors? celestial objects? eyes? music? animals? whatever...) that you found most interesting in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and explore how this motif functions and what you think it adds to the poem.
For example, you may want to consider: What does the motif "do"? What does it emphasize or reveal? Is it ever symbolic? Does it connect with thematic elements or character development?
Be sure to include and analyze a few quotes / specific details from the poem that contain your motif.
If a previous poster chose the same motif as you, be sure to build off of what he or she wrote or explore the motif in a different way, and don't simply repeat.
(**Consider this a pre-write / exploration of ideas for the essay you'll be writing...you will hopefully gain ideas from others and start to form what your thesis might be through your writing**)
Be sure to include your name.
(Sample Post from a former student)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite motif in the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was the juxtaposition of sound vs silence. The motif of silence seems to represent bad omens and negativity. For example, after the Mariner had killed the albatross it says "And we did speak only/ to break the/ The silence of the Sea!" (16). The mariner repeats this idea of the silent sea multiple times on page 16, and as the silence of the sea continues, the men lose their ability to speak from the dry hot sun, and the silence becomes more powerful as the ship's fate becomes more grim. Then, on page 10, the Mariner gains hope, the first uplifting emotion in days on the ship, and drinks his own blood so that he can speak and break the silence, saying, "I bit my arm, I sucked the blood/ and cried, a Sail! a Sail!" (10). Later on, when all the men on the boat are dead aside from the Mariner, he is again struck with silence of the ocean and the dead men until he realizes the beauty of the slimy creatures of the ocean and regains his ability to pray, and after he prays and falls asleep it finally rains once more. The good vibes from sound continue not long after when the Mariner hears the wind high above him in the sky, "And the coming wind did roar more loud, and sails did sigh like sedge" (14) Finally, after the silent sea had remained unmoving and without rain, both are restored with the restoration of sound. The fact that the good tidings for the mariner and the ship are coincided with sound and music throughout the poem, juxtaposed with the silence of the bad tidings emphasize the romantic idea of the beauty and power of nature. The musical side shows the beauty whereas the silent side shows the threatening power.
One motif that stood out to me while reading the Rime of the Ancient Mariner was the personification of the moon, sun, ship and storm. Colderidge had the moon and ship as 'she' and the sun and storm as 'he'. This added some sort of connection to the story, it made them seem as characters instead of just elements in the story. They reoccurred throughout the poem and this reminded me that he was always in the presence of those four things. All his crew members died and he was left alone however always seemed to be in the presence of those four elements. The 'she' elements represented the good, or the lesser power, and the 'he' elements showed strength and dominance. "And now a STORM-BLAST came, and he/ was tyrannous and strong" (pg 6.). "Without a breeze, without a tide,/ She steadies with upright keel" (pg 10). The presence of each elements contributes greatly to events in the poem. With the ship he finds his regret and sorrow, and the beauty of the snake. But with the storm he finds himself to kill the Albatross. These four elements link together and work off of each other. "For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky/ Lay like a load on my weary eye" (pg 12). This motif stronger emphasizes the importance of each, and the influence it had on the Mariner. Positive or negative, helpful or diminishing, adding personal traits or strength and softness, and using pronouns to describe them really drove home his point. It perfected his poem and got his story across. These elements helped the Mariner find his regret and carry out his burden.
ReplyDelete-Krista Leach
In general, personification isn't exactly a motif...it's a poetic or literary technique. The motif would be either one of those four objects (sun, moon, ship, or storm) or perhaps the sun & moon together as celestial objects. After selecting one of those as a motif you can look at how Coleridge personifies it as part of how the motif "functions" and what he does with it.
DeleteHowever, you do bring up some really interesting ideas, and perhaps the motif of gender and gendering (I don't even know if that's a word!) non-living objects is a recurring element / motif. I really like your idea of the "shes" being good, but lesser in power (what's this saying about females, huh?) and the masculine sun & storm being more dominant (and perhaps not just "strength" as you said, but aggressive and punishing??). Look beyond how they contribute to the events (this is obvious--pretty much everything connects with plot) but consider what's implied by the genders in relation to the Mariner's actions, punishment, and redemption. Could Coleridge be implying something about a need for a masculine-feminine balance? Perhaps the Mariner was too aggressively "masculine" in his actions and needed to acknowledge the necessary femininity to be free and learn his message?
A motif that stood out to me the most was the contrasts between the sun and the moon. As the poem went on, there were a lot of specific details that set the two apart. For instance, the sun was referred to ‘He’ and the moon was referred to ‘She’. With this, the sun seemed to represent all things that were bad, while the moon represented all things good. The wickedness that is described as the sun is shown when Coleridge writes, “And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, / (Heaven’s mother send us grace!) / As if through a dungeon-grate he peered / With broad and burning face” (10). This is saying how the sun is like prison and it locks people in as they look up to it. Instead of the sun providing them with any root of guidance, it burns into them, trapping them. The moon is described as what helps and leads the men in the story. As the moon is good and resourceful Coleridge writes, “‘His great bright eye most silently / Up to the moon is cast- / If he may know which way to go; / For she guides him smooth or grim. / See, brother, see! How graciously / She looketh down on him’” (17). I find this quote to be very intriguing as it shows how much the moon is truly admired by the people in the story. To view something so distant as something so significant to them, I find interesting. I think that Coleridge uses the sun and the moon to depict not only how much time has past for them on this ship, but also to show the ups and downs of every day. When the sun is out problems seem to occur, meanwhile when the moon is shining in the night, good things happen to these men. These two quotes seemed to be the most significant, as to what Coleridge is trying to relay about the moon and the sun in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner. Helping to illustrate the inner struggle that the Mariner withheld, the sun and the moon were significant motifs that showed how he was able to over come all that he did.
ReplyDelete-Meagan Stassi
Good motif choice! I think looking at the sun & moon together as one motif (of celestial spheres) really playing into the Romantic idea of Reconciliation of Opposites. It could be worth considering how the sun and moon each "react to" and impact the Mariner. Does he need both the sun and moon to truly learn his lesson and become a better person? Did he deserve the sun's "wickedness"? Is the sun like a punishing god and the moon a nurturing one? Could Coleridge be implying that both are necessary? Are humans, like the Mariner and like these heavenly bodies, both good and bad?
DeleteOne motif in the poem, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, was eyes. Coleridge focusses mainly on the Mariner’s eyes and the eye’s of his crew. Shakespeare said once that the eyes are the window to your souls and I think this poem illustrates this idea. In the beginning the Mariner is described to have a “long grey beard and glittering eye” (5). The Mariner’s appearance is old but his soul is still young through his “glittering eye”. This is because his “glittering eye” shows he still has much to express to the world. The Mariner is also frequently described as “The bright-eyed Mariner” (6). To even further represent that the Mariner holds stories that he needs to express. Also eyes show the emotion in people for example on page 9 when all the crew starts to become hopeless that they will survive, their eyes are expressed as “how glazed each weary eye” (9). Coleridge uses eyes to express emotions like the eagerness in the Mariner’s glittering eye and the crews despairing weary eyes. Besides showing what the eyes hold Coleridge also uses eyes to show the power they can posses. In the beginning of the story the wedding guest is transfixed to hear the Mariner’s story because “He holds him with his glittering eye” (6). The wedding guest cannot leave because the Mariner’s eyes hold him in a trance as if they have a magical power. Later in the poem the Mariner becomes transfixed by the dead crews eyes. The Mariner said, “I could not draw my eyes from theirs” (18). The wedding guest was captivated by the Mariner’s story because the Mariner held a crazed illusion around him and the Mariner was entranced by his crew from the guilt he held for securing their deaths with the Albatross. The eyes besides being able to enthrall audiences they also have the power of a curse. For example on page 11 when the crew looks at the Mariner before they drop dead the Mariner said they “cursed me with his eye” (11). In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner eyes are frequently mentioned over and over because they hold special qualities about them. Eyes show the emotions in people and they have a power to captivate and curse others. The motif of eyes helps to show the relationship of people with each other and the powers one can hold over others.
ReplyDelete-Shelby Morrison
Interesting observations of how the eyes sometimes contrast with the person's exterior, showing that the mariner is not who he seems to be, perhaps, and also the transfixing power of eyes. It's almost as if eyes reveal the parts of characters that hold significant power. Perhaps this power connects with knowledge? Perhaps it connects with an other-worldly aspect like the supernatural or death? Maybe eyes emphasize the power humans have to transcend the worldly realm and to understand that there is more to this earth than what there seems (kind of like what Coleridge refers to in his Latin preface--the seen and the unseen worlds...)
DeleteMist
ReplyDeleteThroughout the telling of his past journey on a cursed ship, the Ancient Mariner continuously mentions fog and mist--both as the origins of certain mysterious characters and as descriptions of scenes in his story. It is a motif used to represent the faint hope that comes with uncertainty and usually foreshadows something significant that is to come. For example, imminently before the ocean is iced over and the Albatross that will eventually haunt the Ancient Mariner appears, “there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold” (7). Here the fog and mist are being used as a “curtain” to give the audience a glimpse of all the mysterious events that are about to happen. While just this example may suggest a negative implication of the fog and mist, it’s association with the Albatross “that brought the fog and mist” (8) and the spirits “From the land of mist and snow” (16) imply that fog and mist are not representative of anything evil. Rather, they are shown as implications of hope and an otherworldly presence, because the Albatross is glorified (its carcass replaces the cross on the mariner’s neck) and seen by the audience as a sign that land is nearby for the lost sailors. Similarly, since these spirits are portrayed as being magical and fair in the scene in which they discuss how much more penance the Ancient Mariner owes for murdering the Albatross, the poem suggests that the land of mist and snow is a magical place where more God-like spirits like them reside. These spirits are comparable to God because of the manner in which they oversee the human world. They catch the Mariner murdering the Albatross and punish him for his sins while also considering forgiveness, acting similar to how God would act. The analogy of the land of mist and snow to Heaven is very Romantic because many people began to doubt religion and beliefs that had been popular in the church during the Romantic Era. Thus, by using something as unclear and intangible as mist to convey the mariner’s faint hope for escape from misery on the ocean, Coleridge shows how humans will look towards anything for hope when faced with challenge, no matter how uncertain its existence is.
-Lili Uchida
Interesting observations about mist connecting with faint hope and foreshadowing--these ideas make me think that the mist is both natural and supernatural, almost spiritual. Mist does appear to be almost ghost-like in its ability to both obscure and reveal. If you consider that nature in this poem may be an extension of god or spirit, how does mist play into that role? Is mist a warning? Does mist indicate that we as humans (and the Mariner in particular) have limitations? You provide some really interesting quotes & ideas!
DeleteSamuel Coleridge, author of, “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” incorporated multiple motifs in his poetry. The motif that I am choosing to discuss is the recurring notion of the colors blue and red. These colors continuously arise throughout this piece. I interpreted these use of colors as warm and cold colors. “The water, like a witch’s oils, / Burnt green, and blue, and white” (9). Blue is associated with water throughout this piece. At night, the blues represent mist and snow on the ocean. As the poem goes on, water gets more crucial as they all are dry mouthed. “Her lips were red...” (11). She is being associated with death and darkness at this point, when the ships shadows touched the water - it appeared red. Page 13 is a very important page when being recognized by colors. Coleridge mentions multiple quotes throughout to explain the anxiety and emotions these characters were feeling. Relating back to an earlier point, “The charmed water burnt alway / A still and awful red” (13). Again, associated with a negative deep meaning. The blue represents water and cool, calmness, while the red represents a more harsher meaning.
ReplyDeleteNicole Winkler
Good choice of motif and I think blue & red are well-selected colors to explore. Interesting that blues correlate with forms of water (liquid, solid, and in between). It seems that blue = nature and what the mariner can often not "grasp" (both literally, like the water he cannot drink, and figuratively, the ideas of his own limitations and place in the universe). Red does seems to be related to the supernatural, blood, and other-worldly occurrences with negative meaning, but perhaps what the mariner needs is to grasp their existence which could help him in acknowledging that there are things that are more powerful than him in the universe? Maybe the colors blue & red emphasize his punishment and ultimate realization of his place in the world?
DeleteDeath
ReplyDeleteWe are all afraid of it, we all wonder when it is going to come for us, and it is also a motif in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Death happens to every sailor in the Rime, except the Ancient Mariner. He seems to be trapped in a “living hell.” He says, “The many men, so beautiful! / And they all dead did lie: / And a thousand slimy things / Lived on; and so did I” (IV. 13-16). Every man is beautiful dead, and they are all his shipmates lying in front of him. The only things living still are him and slimy things, (water snakes and etc.). Does this make him a slimy thing? Is he beautiful? I think that Coleridge is commenting on the fact that death is a beautiful thing. It is also beautiful that we are able to live the human life, and somehow find our way to live through struggle, like this story for the Mariner. I do not know why all of the other sailors are dead and he is still alive? Is it because they did not punish him for killing the Albatross but the gods did? This poems toys with the supernatural, nature, and what is out of our reach like gods and death. It is still unclear what death really represents to me, but I understand that it is a major motif in this poem, and I found it the most interesting of the poems.
-Owen Lyons
Good choice. Consider the role of the character "Life-in-Death" who appears briefly and wins the dice game against "Death" leading to the death of the sailors and the Mariner's living among them. But then later, they seem sot come back to life, at least in a supernatural way. the Mariner also causes the albatross's abrupt death, triggering all of this. They journeyed to a land of death, pushing the boundaries of mankind. The mariner must drink his blood to speak & pray. Maybe, like you allude to, much of this is about grappling with out own mortality and the role we (and the mariner) may play in the mortality of others (such as the albatross & the seamen). How is prayer (or acknowledgement of a higher power and his subservience to it) a key point in the Mariner's shifting relationship with death? Is it important that near the end those in the rowboat that saved him (except the hermit) thought he was dead?
DeleteThroughout The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge referred to many different motifs. One motif that came up a lot was his reference to colors. I am not specifically talking just one color, but many. "'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,/ Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?" (5). His reference to gray not only allows the reader to imagine Coleridge's reference to the Mariner's appearance, but adds to the story itself. "The bride hath paced into the hall,/ Red as a rose is she;/ Nodding their heads before her goes/ The merry minstrelsy" (6). After the Mariner has caught the attention of the wedding guest with whom he intends to share his tale, the connection to the bride on her wedding day and a red rose, allows some room for the reader to think about what emotions the bride is feeling, is she blushing because shes happy, is she nervous? "And now there came both mist and snow,/ And it grew wondrous cold:/ And ice, mast-high, came floating by,/ As green as emerald" (7). Samuel Coleridge finds a way to make the colors he speaks of, more bold, by comparing them to other objects such as flowers or magnificent jewels. After reading that passage, I pictured the snow, and being cold but with how he ended the passage with the mention of Emerald, I thought of the reference to nature, and life that the color green associates with.
ReplyDeleteGood observation about colors, but you leave me wondering when you say "...to imagine Coleridge's reference to the Mariner's appearance, but adds to the story itself." The key here is WHAT does the color add to the story? Think beyond plot and characterization...is the importance of gray that it implies lifelessness? death? but in contrast with his "glittering eye"? How does red = emotions of happiness or nervousness? Consider, instead, what else besides the bride is described as red and what those red things may have in common. if the ice is "as green as emerald," good connection with magnificent jewels, what is he then implying about he value of the natural world? Do all of these connect with things/places/people being different than they seem on the surface? if so, perhaps his use of color emphasizes his idea about the concurrence of the seen and unseen in the world, and that people need to look beyond the "seen" (or surface) for true understanding? Is this the case for the mariner? Is this part of the lesson he learned & share with the wedding guest & reader?
DeleteThe motif that I regard as most intriguing in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the albatross, and the use of birds in general. Coleridge uses simple examples, like references to loons to emphasize that people should be originally and willingly connected with nature, even if in a dark way; “Hold off me you grey-bearded loon“ (6). However, I believe that Coleridge uses birds throughout his poem not only to facilitate the coexistence between man and nature, but also to accentuate this connection as vital and of utmost importance. Coleridge specifically does this through his use of the albatross. The albatross is regarded as a sacred creature, one that is Christ-like; “As if it had been a christian soul, We hailed in God’s name” (7). Therefore, when the mariner kills the albatross, he completely severes the sacred bond between man and nature, and must learn that this is a heavy burden to carry. The killing of the albatross becomes the defining symbol of the mariners crucial mistake and provides him with immense guilt, “My heart as dry as dust” (12). However, when the mariner prays and recognizes his mistake, the burden of the albatross is dropped, “The self-same moment I could pray; and from my neck so free The albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea” (13). This is the crucial moment within the story in which the mariner recognizes the importance of connecting with nature, and the consequence of severing that bond. -Lindsey Burzumato
ReplyDeleteIt's good that you're considering birds and general and not just the albatross as your motif because there's only one albatross, so it alone doesn't really qualify as a motif (it's more of a character and perhaps a symbol). Ah-I like the loon example. I had never thought of that! Great idea about birds emphasizing his message / idea about the (need for?) coexistence of man and nature and the Mariner's need to learn this lesson. Look later in the poem for where song birds are referenced...
DeleteEvan Kessinger
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite motifs in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is that of the albatross and its role as a majestic, possibly holy, beast unfairly killed by the Mariner; this unjust death leads to the Mariner's journey for penance. The idea of the albatross being an omen of good hope can be seen as the albatross first comes into view. When it does come, the Mariner says "Through the fog it came;/ As if it had been a Christian soul/ We hailed it in God's name"(7). Immediately the albatross is compared to God, an indication of it religious nature. The sailors have also yet to see any creature since entering the icy land. The albatross is later associated with the breeze on page 7, showing it has some control over nature. When the albatross is killed by the Mariner, and the expedition turns sour, he says that "Instead of the cross, the Albatross/ around my neck was hung" (9). This line references the Bible, where Jesus must carry the cross on which he will be crucified. The cross, like the world of sin we wishes to cleanse, is his burden to bear. Much like Jesus, the Mariner is forced to carry the weight of misdeeds upon his shoulders as a way of cleansing away the sin of killing such an innocent and pious bird. Not long after the bird falls from his neck and into the abyss below, two spirits appear and begin to talk about the Mariner. The second of these voices remarks, after an inquiry about the Mariner is given by the first, that “the man hath penance done,/ And penance more will do” (17). The spirit says that the Mariner has already been given some forgiveness, referring to his admiration of the previously vile sea snakes, during which the rotting albatross fell. He also mentions that the Mariner still needs to be forgiven for his sin. This comes in the form of telling the story to the guests of the wedding, something which the Mariner believes he must do.
The albatross by itself doesn't completely work because there's only one albatross, so it alone doesn't really qualify as a motif (it's more of a character and perhaps a symbol). However, you can consider the albatross as part of a motif of birds or animals?
DeleteOr, and I think this connects more with the really interesting ideas your post explores, your motif could be allusions to the Christian sacramental process of sin, penance, confession and forgiveness/reconciliation. Maybe the albatross is one key part of this larger motif?
A motif that really stood out to me after rereading Samuel Coleridge's “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” was that of color. Not only does Coleridge throughout the poem reference different colors in order to convey more of a deeper meaning to the text, but he also incorporates darkness and light within different colors to bring it out as a motif, as well as other motifs present in the work of literature. The colors used in the poem as motifs include red, blue, green, black, white, and other variations of the said colors. In the quote, “Nor dim nor red, like God’s own head, / The glorious Sun uprist:” (8), the Mariner looks back right after he had shot the albatross and explains how before he had done so the world around him was “like God’s own head”, describing that it was not red nor dim, implying that darkness and the sole color red represent badness and evil. He then goes on to explain that after he killed the albatross the scene around him averred and went from light, cool, clear, and happy; to foggy, misty, dim, and in a way red, representing the evil he had done. Another time in the poem where Coleridge uses a plethora of color references is on page 13 in the book. The stanza, “Within the shadow of the ship / I watched their rich attire: / Blue, glossy green, and velvet black, / They coiled and swam; and every track / Was a flash of golden fire” (13) really conveys how Coleridge uses colors to show deeper meaning behind the things he describes. In the stanza on page 13, he describes the eels in the water around the ship as blue, green, and black in color. Through the use of the color blue and green, Coleridge displays the eels as a part of nature and a part of the ocean, showing the overwhelming purity and goodness about them. He then goes on to describe the eels in the water as a “velvet black”, using the black to represent the darkness of the night and to show how the green and blue of the eels in nature outshines the dark/bad. He then finishes the stanza saying that the eels below left “a flash of golden fire”, also conveying how the natural eels created a bright light in the dark, tieing back to how they stood out in the darkness. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” used color as a motif throughout its entirety, and by doing so, brought out a deeper meaning that left the reader knowing and understanding more about the story than what was simply written on its pages.
ReplyDeleteAlex Cosentino
You have a lot going on here! Most of it seems connected, but it would be worthwhile to rein it in a bit. I really like your ideas of light/dark and colors connected with notions of good and evil. That's really what this poem comes down to, right? What is means to be evil and good? And how the mariner must come to understand and take responsibility for his evil action which disregarded the beauty and spirit of nature (which is maybe inherently good?). Focus in on how color / light-dark reveals and emphasized the mariner's realization of this lesson/message and how Coleridge may be using the mariner as a metaphor for humans in general.
Delete
ReplyDeleteI think the most interesting motif in the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" was the use of color, specifically white, in contrast with others. I believe the motif of the color white represents heaven, and the objects described as white seem to hold holy spirits. Both the moon and light are white, and act as guiding spirits for the Mariner when he is left all alone. Holy spirits inhabit the bodies of the mariner’s fellow dead bodies and when it’s time for the mariner to return home, he describes, “ And the bay was white with silent light, Til rising from the same, Full many shapes, that shadows were, In crimson colours came,”(pg.19 ). The bay was white, it was where the Mariner was lead to be, and “white light” is also supposed to take you to heaven, or “home.” The crimson colors in the shadows could be the blood or the death of his shipmates, but through it all, he has lived and he made it home to the white light. Though he is guilty for his shipmates’ deaths, he knows this, and tells his story to rid his guilt. The white was also described as “silent light,” which means that white is calming, peaceful, and should always lead to goodness in this story.
-Molly O’Driscoll
Really interesting focus on white, and I like your ideas concerning spiritual heavenly peace in contrast with the colors of suffering and guilt. I also like the correlation with goodness and how the mariner needs to learn how to be good in order to gain the "whiteness" in his life--peace, cleansing of his wrongs, tranquility, and nurturing in contrast with the torment and guilt brought on by his actions. A lot of this seems to connect with the natural and supernatural.
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