The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Why is The Rime of the Ancient Mariner a Typical Poem?

There a lot of ballads written around the world but Britain has one of the biggest interest in this world. In the following essay I will explain what makes a good ballad and then see if that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has included that particular technique in the ballad itself. To make an interesting you must have the following eight points as shown below:
An interesting plot to keep the reader entertained
A good sense of rhythm and movement so that the reader has a tune going in their head
Repetition should also be included as it would help the reader remember the ballad as it divides the verse or line into segments
In fourth place there’s alliteration making the ballad audibly represent the action that is taking place
After that is assonance which is really alliteration but has the repetition of vowels rather than consonants and used for the same cause which is to audibly represent the action that is taking place
Onomatopoeia is very important in ballads, it’s job is to make the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named
Having a regular verse pattern helps the reader remember in the same way as repetition but instead a one word it would have a starting phrase most of the time
And finally there’s imagery which consists of metaphors, similes, onomatopoeia and personification. Though onomatopoeia and personification are used rarely they are imagery-too.

Does The Rime of the Ancient Mariner have all of these techniques to make such a good ballad or does it lack at a few of these. Just carry on reading to find out if the ballad does.

So let’s look at a plot in a ballad. To make the ballad interesting you need to come up with a good plot as the plot runs through the whole ballad keeping the reader engaged throughout the whole ballad right through the end. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a very interesting plot. The plot for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is as said in the following. The Ancient Mariner stops a wedding guest that is on his way to the wedding celebration to tell him his own life story. The story begins out at sea, where the mariner is setting sail with a full crew. They get interrupted and then afterward, compelled to listen, the guest returns to listening to the old man. They were going through the cold, and an albatross was sent to rescue them. After the Mariner kills the Albatross, the other sailors are angry with him, but they sail on nonetheless. As the sun became hotter, the ship and its sailors ran out of water, and there were creatures that appeared in the water along with fires set atop the surface of the ocean. The mariner felt extreme guilt for their thirst, because of his slaying of the Albatross. After a long time without water, a ship began to close in on the sailors, although they could not cry for help because of their extreme thirst. The mariner sipped his own blood so that he could cry out to the ship. The ship turned out to be a ship of horror, manned by Death and a bizarre woman, who was coming to collect their souls. Death then killed all of the sailors but the mariner. The guest expresses his fear of the old man because of his unnaturally skinny body, and suggests he came back from the dead. The mariner assures him that the reason he is so skinny is only because of the depression he slipped into after all the death on the ship. The mariner continued his story and said that he prayed then but only heard a wicked whisper, and the carcass fell off of his neck. Then The Ancient mariner fell asleep, but when he woke up, the dead sailors began to do their jobs as a silent "ghost" crew. Then a voice told him that he needs to keep praying for his sin of killing the Albatross. The mariner heard two voices arguing over what was driving the ship, and then all of the dead crew that haunted him disappeared but came back at a later time. Then the ship neared shore, and the Ancient Mariner noticed that there were more alive humans on shore, which relieved him. The hermit's singing was then overthrew by the mariners ship being instantly sank, but not before they saved the mariner. Then, compelled to tell his story to the Hermit, the mariner sat down and shared his tale. He was in extreme agony before he told it, and explained to the wedding guest that at unpredictable times he is compelled to share his story, and until he does, he is in extreme agony. So looking at this plot there are a lot of mysteries. Everyone wants to know who the ancient mariner is, why he has to tell his story, why he shot the albatross, who this bizarre woman was there. The reader wants to know the answers to these. Some are answered and others are not. It’s not just this. The supernatural elements and powers, the strange weather, angle spirits and the weird speech and so much more. The reader would stay engaged and captivated till the end of the ballad since they want to find the answer to the question. So I’d give The Rime of the Ancient Mariner a ten out of ten for its plot.

So the plot was good, now let’s look at the rhythm for this ballad. Rhyme usually occurs in a single line of verse. Good constructive ballads has an almost musical rhythm that carries the poem along successfully and envelopes the reader, and adopting a combination of poetic rhythm that is appropriate to the language we currently think and talk in. It is crucial to the flow and fruitful development of the ballad. If the ballad can pull this balancing act off, then, and it is appropriately matched to the subject matter in hand, it stands a good chance of tapping into a ballad’s transformative power. I think that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a very good sense of rhythm as the following examples show:
"The guests are met, the feast is set"
"The ship was cheered, the harbor cleared"
"And he shone bright, and on the right"
"The Wedding Guest here beat his breast"
I think that this is very effective since it keeps the reader in time with the ballad and sends a little tune into their head making the ballad more interesting to read and helping the reader understand the story better as they are in a flow of excitement t and tune so now they will be hooked up to the ballad right to end. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a rhythm through most of the ballad but there are a few exceptions during the ballad. So now The Rime of the Ancient Mariner gets a nine out of ten for rhythm throughout the ballad.

Now, let’s see about repetition in ballads. Repetition is a common component of poetry and may appear as a single word or phrase used throughout a poem or as an entire stanza reused repeatedly. Different poets have used repetition in poetry to achieve many different ends, ranging from emphasizing a particular point to making a poem easier to memorize. It is often used to supplement or even replace some formal components of poetry, such as meter and rhyme, as well. Repetition may also refer to the repetition of specific sounds to produce particular effects, such as alliteration or rhyme. Many poets focus on the sound and rhythm of their poems at least as much as on the meanings, so repetition is a powerful tool because it can be used to manipulate both. One of the most common uses of repetition in poetry is emphasizing a particular word or phrase for purposes such as drawing attention to a particular theme or pointing out contrasting uses of a given word. The degree to which repetition is used varies widely. Some poems repeat the same word or phrase in every single line while others repeat it only in a few stanzas or only twice in the entire poem. Repetition can even transcend the bounds of a single poem. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a very special type of ballad and uses repetition in few different types of ways making it very enjoyable to read through the ballad. There are a few examples below to show them:
Day after day, day after day,
I looked upon the rotting sea, and drew my eyes away; I looked up on the rotting deck, and there the dead men lay.
Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.Nor any drop to drinkNor any drop to drink nor any drop to drink
It moved and moved, and took at lastIt moved and moved, and took at lastIt moved and moved, and took at last
You can see that the repetition has mainly been used to emphasize the point though one of the examples has been used to break up the verse instead which was the 3rd example. The 1st and last example have been used in one line repeatedly unlike the 2nd and 3rd examples which have been used in the whole verse as phrases or lines though. So overall The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a good range of repetition uses used in a variety of different methods makes this ballad an amazing piece of work to read and enjoy. In repetition, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner gets a ten out of ten from me.

Now let’s look at alliteration in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Alliteration is a basically the occurring of an Alliteration is the pairing of identical or similar consonant sounds. Bear in mind that this sound does not always have to be represented by the same letter. If you can't find an appropriate word beginning with an identical sound, you might settle for a pair like 'f' and 'th'. Alliteration is commonly used in ballads to give the whole line or verse more of an effect. Used too intensively, it can create a boring effect and bore the reader while they are reading the ballad. When you use a lot of alliteration, it's important to get a balance between playfulness and seeming to be clever for it. Try to use methods like this only when you are doing so for a reason. Alliteration doesn't depend on particular sounds being at the start of words. Some sounds carry particular cultural associations that you can manipulate to add depth to a ballad. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a good use of alliteration. Not too much but then again not so less that there is almost no use of alliteration. The following are some of the uses of alliteration in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner:
“Nor any drop to drink”
“And they all dead did lie”
“A wicked whisper cameAlone, alone, all, all alone”
“Nor rot nor reek did theyNor rot nor reek did theyNor rot nor reek did they”
These are probably some of the best uses of alliteration in this ballad. As you can see they are a very high standard of poetry. The alliteration in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a very good affect whenever it’s used. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is well known for its alliteration. So when it comes to alliteration, it gets a ten out of ten for using the alliteration perfectly in the places.

Assonance, assonance is pretty much the same thing as alliteration but uses the vowels repetition. Assonance is the pairing of vowel sounds. This has a subtler effect than alliteration, and often operates at a subconscious level. It can be one of those factors that makes us decide that a particular pair of words sound good together. Vowel sounds can be grouped into high and low sounds, depending on where the tongue is in the mouth when they're produced. For instance, 'i' in 'fish' is high, whilst 'u' in 'tub' is low. Often assonant effects are produced in poetry by grouping a lot of high vowels or a lot of low vowels. Most English poets associate high vowels with light, elegant or sophisticated things, and low vowels with bad or common things, because of the way they have appeared in the plot. Writers usually take advantage of this to improve their ballads to a higher standard. It’s very hard to use assonance in writing but Samuel Coleridge managed to have a use of assonance, a few examples shown below:
"Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken-"
"In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud"
“The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared”
“A wicked whisper came, and made”
See, these all must have been written by a very skilled poet since this all an amazing piece of work. If you read them out loud you can hear the vowels repetition. The assonance is used in the same way as alliteration. It gives the ballad an effect better than ever. Samuel Coleridge uses assonance very cautiously since if you use it wrong it could possibly eat up the line or verse and if used badly way too much the whole poem would be like a bag full of rubbish. So in assonance The Rime of the Ancient Mariner gets nine out of ten.

Onomatopoeia, a big word for such a simple meaning. Onomatopoeia is the forming and use of words and phrases to imitate or suggest the sounds they describe, such as bang, whisper, cuckoo, splash and fizz. It is one of the resources of language more often used by poets than writers; this is because ballads are made for the ear as well as the eye, and depends more heavily on sound-effects. It is also defined as a word, which imitates the natural sounds of a thing, which it describes. It creates a sound effect that makes the thing described, making the idea more expressive and interesting. For instance, saying, “The gushing stream flows in the forest” is describing more than saying, “The stream flows in the forest.” The reader seems to hear the sound of a “gushing stream” which makes the expression more effective. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the use of this technique been used strongly as the examples show below:
“Whizz”
“Pang”
“Roared”
“Howled”
Samuel Coleridge fit his use of onomatopoeia in the right slots. Sometimes he used them in similes. Other times he uses the use of it to describe objects of actions. He uses it differently in the right areas effectively. So overall he uses them in variety of ways to expand his skill as well as emphasizing his point. So the ballad gets a ten out of ten for the use of onomatopoeia.

Looking at our next topic, it’s the regular verse pattern method. Like the rhythm in a piece of music, the regular verse pattern is an underlying structure. Poets often slip in extra feet, or remove them, or change stress patterns around. The regular verse pattern is usually used at the beginning of the verse and the ending of the verse to give it more power and also a rhythm too to keep the reader engaged. The regular verse pattern is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms have a specific verse pattern, or a certain set of verses alternating in a particular order. Overall the regular verse pattern is really just a rhythmic line used in a verse to add a tune to the ballad. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner the regular verse pattern is used carefully ad placed in the right places so there are no possible problems to occur or interfere with the verse. There are a few examples from the ballad to show you what I mean:
“And now there came both mist and snow, and it grew wondrous cold: And ice, mast-high, came floating by, as green as emerald.”
“The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, the furrow followed free; we were the first that ever burst into that silent sea.”
“Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Night-mare life-in-death was she, Who thick man's blood with cold”
“Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on my soul in agony”
These are a few of the amazing uses on the regular verse pattern used in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner but they are not used as well as they possibly could be expected. But Coleridge balanced that out by making his other methods at a higher standard. So I give the ballad an eight out of ten since it could be improved on a little bit more.

Now, the last and final method, imagery which consists of both similes and metaphors, both helping you visualize. Imagery is the name given to the elements in a poem that spark off the senses. Despite "image" being a synonym for "picture", images need not be only visual; any of the five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell) can respond to what a poet writes. Techniques, such as similes and metaphors are mainly used to create powerful images called figurative language, and can also include onomatopoeia and personification. One of the great pleasures of ballads is discovering a particularly powerful image. A few examples are:
“I watched their rich attire: blue, glossy green, and velvet black, they coiled and swam; and every track was a flash of golden fire”
“A noise like of a hidden brookA noise like of a hidden brook”
“Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, and cursed me with his eye.”
“He went like one that hath been stunned”
So looking at the examples Samuel Coleridge has used imagery in all three of its main three different types making the poem exciting and tense. It helps the reader visualize the image clearly in there in their heads what it must have been like. So he gets 10 out of 10 on the imagery content.

So in conclusion The Rime of the Ancient Mariner gets a seventy-six out of eighty making the ballad an amazing one. This ballad has good plot with interesting, tense and exciting moments. Then it has a good sense of rhythm which keeps a tune in your head. Extraordinary repetition, alliteration and assonance. The onomatopoeia was also used carefully and correctly. The regular verse pattern was good though could have been at a higher but still decent standard. And finally the imagery was very well placed and very useful too. So in the end all there is to say is that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is great.

The End!!!

SS