Introduction to English Literature- second course
By: Hayder Gebreen
3-Narrative poems: are poems which tell a story. They tend to be longer than other
types of poetry, but it is comparatively easy to recognize the poet’s intention.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
By S.T. Coleridge
هب النسيم اللطيف و تبدد الزبد األبيض و أعقب ذلك حدوث التموجات
.و كنا أول من اندفع إلى البحر الساكن
و هبط النسيم و أنزلت األشرعة
و كان ذلك حزينا ً كما يمكن للحزن أن يكون
!و كنا نتكلم فقط كي نكسر صمت البحر
و كانت السماء حارةً و نحاسية
أما الشمس الدموية فقد و قفت فوق صاري المركب
.و لم تكن أكبر من القمر
يوما ً بعد يوم, يوما ً بعد يوم
نفس وال حركة ٌ ال, كنا متجمدين
خاملين مثل سفين ٍة مرسومة على محي ٍط مرسوم
كان في كل مكان, الماء, الماء
و كل ألواح السفينة قد انكمشت
الماء كان في كل مكان, الماء
وما من قطرة ما ٍء صالحة للشرب
Introduction: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a lyrical ballad i.e. a poem written
in the form and style of a folk ballad which is usually written by an anonymous person.
The ballad is a narrative song-poem, usually relating a single, dramatic incident or
story, in a form suitable for singing or rhythmical chanting.
The poem, The Rime of The Ancient Mariner, is about how the Ancient Mariner’s ship
sailed past the Equator, and was driven by storms to the cold regions towards the South
Pole; from thence she sailed back to the tropical Latitude of the Pacific Ocean; how the
Ancient Mariner cruelly and inhospitably-killed a sea-bird called Albatross, and how
he was followed by many and strange distresses; and also how he could come back to
his own country.
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
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Introduction to English Literature- second course
By: Hayder Gebreen
A favourable gentle wind blew. The white foam flew off the surface of the ocean. The
ship sailed onward calmly and the track made by it was clearly visible. It seemed to
them that they were the first people who had ever come to that silent sea. There is a use
of alliteration in the first two lines of this stanza. There is a repetition of ‘F’ and ‘b’
sounds which creates a musical effect besides conveying the idea of the smooth and
swift gliding movement of the ship whereas the use of the word ‘furrow’
illustrate metaphor in this stanza. And the word furrow refers to the splitting of water
caused behind a ship due to its forward movement. The line ‘The furrow followed free’
suggests that the ship sailed on smoothly.
Analysis:
Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down,
‘Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
The wind stopped blowing. The sails too dropped. There was complete silence all
around. It was a very sad situation. The eerie silence of the sea was broken only by the
sailors’ talk.
The ‘breeze’ had stopped blowing because the Albatross’s wrongful killing had begun
to show its effects. The ancient Mariner and his fellow sailors are about to be punished
for the ‘sin’.
It is to be noted that lines in this para create an atmosphere of eerie silence and absolute
inactivity. The atmosphere leaves the sailors full of suspense, fear and uncertainty.
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 sky looked like heated copper. The sun looked blood red. Even at noon, it stood
vertically above the mast and looked as small as the moon. Again there is a use of
metaphor in this stanza when the poet says: ‘a hot and copper sky’ and ‘The bloody
Sun’. The sun is blazing red and scorching hot. It is also ‘blood’ red in colour, hence it
has been called ‘bloody sun’. To the sailors, the harsh weather signifies that they have
to face and suffer under this type of weather due to the ‘sin’ of killing of Albatross. It
is a part of the punishment they being subjected to. These lines also tell about the
location of the ship. The ship is on or near the equator because the sun is very harsh
and is at a vertical angle at noon – a phenomenon that occurs in the equatorial region
only.
Day after day, day after day,
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Introduction to English Literature- second course
By: Hayder Gebreen
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.
The ship remained stuck at one place day after day. It did not move because there was
neither wind nor tide. It looked just like the picture of a ship on the sea. The ancient
Mariner and his fellow sailors on board their ship were stuck in the middle of the silent
sea. And they were brought into this condition because the mariners had drifted into
the silent sea where there was neither wind nor tide, hence they were stranded there.
There is a use of simile in the last two lines of this stanza. It graphically describes the
pictures of a becalmed ship on a silent and still ocean. Hence, it is very apt, and the
repetition conveys the sheer length of time the sailors’ ship was stuck up in the middle
of the ocean.
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.
The Mariner says that though the ship was surrounded by water all sides yet the very
boarder of the ship began to crack and shrink because of the excessive heat. They were
in the midst of so much water, but there wasn’t even a drop they could drink. These
lines have the repetition of ‘w’ sound, while the repetition of the line: ‘Water, water,
everywhere,’ signifies the peculiar fate the sailors had to face. Although they were
surrounded by immeasurable amount of sea water, they had not a drop of water to wet
their parched mouths. The repetition gauges the extent of their misery. And the sailors
have ‘not a drop’ to drink because their supply of fresh water was exhausted and they
simply could not drink the salty sea water.
