Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Close Reading of a Poem
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a great example of a typical English ballad tradition. The poem, as a result, provides the reader with a lengthy narrative. The poem is a part of the Lyrical Ballads published by both Coleridge and William Wordsworth in 1798. This work differs from many others in the collection as it is more ballad than lyric. The phrase "lyrical ballad" was intended to signify the authors ' intention to combine the two genres: the lyric, dedicated to personal experience and emotion and the ballad, which includes a storyline and characters. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner does at times feel like a lyric due its emphasis on emotion and its vivid descriptions. Nevertheless, the existence of a story points directly to a ballad.
The form of the poem is similar to other older more popular English ballads. Most of the stanzas have four-lines, called a quatrain, and an ABCB rhyme scheme with the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyming. Coleridge divides the poem into seven parts. Most of the stanzas in the poem have four lines; several have five or six lines. In the four-line stanzas, the second and fourth lines usually rhyme. In the five- and six-line stanzas, the second or third line usually rhymes with the final line. The variation in form is explained by Coleridge placing more emphasis on meaning as opposed to form. The lengths of each line vary between eight syllables in the first and third lines, and six in the second and fourth. Another significant component of the structure is the meter. The poem has a significant number of iambs or unaccented syllables followed by accented ones. The meter alternates between iambic tetrameter (with four feet per line) and iambic trimeter (with three feet per line). Coleridge occasionally uses enjambment, the practice of carrying the sense of one line of verse over to the next line without a pause: “And now the storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong” (1, 41-42).
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a great example of a typical English ballad tradition. The poem, as a result, provides the reader with a lengthy narrative. The poem is a part of the Lyrical Ballads published by both Coleridge and William Wordsworth in 1798. This work differs from many others in the collection as it is more ballad than lyric. The phrase "lyrical ballad" was intended to signify the authors ' intention to combine the two genres: the lyric, dedicated to personal experience and emotion and the ballad, which includes a storyline and characters. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner does at times feel like a lyric due its emphasis on emotion and its vivid descriptions. Nevertheless, the existence of a story points directly to a ballad.
The form of the poem is similar to other older more popular English ballads. Most of the stanzas have four-lines, called a quatrain, and an ABCB rhyme scheme with the second and fourth lines of each stanza rhyming. Coleridge divides the poem into seven parts. Most of the stanzas in the poem have four lines; several have five or six lines. In the four-line stanzas, the second and fourth lines usually rhyme. In the five- and six-line stanzas, the second or third line usually rhymes with the final line. The variation in form is explained by Coleridge placing more emphasis on meaning as opposed to form. The lengths of each line vary between eight syllables in the first and third lines, and six in the second and fourth. Another significant component of the structure is the meter. The poem has a significant number of iambs or unaccented syllables followed by accented ones. The meter alternates between iambic tetrameter (with four feet per line) and iambic trimeter (with three feet per line). Coleridge occasionally uses enjambment, the practice of carrying the sense of one line of verse over to the next line without a pause: “And now the storm-blast came, and he Was tyrannous and strong” (1, 41-42).
Cited: Wu, Duncan. Romanticism: an Anthology. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1994. Print.