A long narrative poem in ballad stanzas telling of a sailor who kills an albatross that had guided his ship through Antarctic ice, and suffers supernatural punishment and a slow penance for it, the surviving crew cursing him with the dead bird hung around his neck. First published anonymously as the opening poem of Lyrical Ballads (1798), the collection Coleridge assembled with William Wordsworth, it was substantially revised for the 1817 edition of Sibylline Leaves, where Coleridge added a prose marginal gloss. The albatross became the poem's own lasting emblem of an unwanted, self-inflicted burden.
Facts
Classification
Original Language Composed, From (Year) Composed, From (Year) FAQs
Why do printed editions of the poem have notes in the margin?
Coleridge added a marginal gloss in 1817 to explain the action of a poem readers found confusing.
The notes are a marginal gloss that Coleridge added in the 1817 edition of his collected poems, Sibylline Leaves. The plot and theme of the poem had been considered confusing, so the gloss is a set of notes explaining the action. That revised version is the one found in most anthologies and textbooks today.
What moral does the Mariner give the Wedding-Guest at the end of the poem?
From the text of the poem as published by Project Gutenberg, Part the Seventh, the Mariner says: He prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast. He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us He made and loveth all.
Connections
Associated With
Source Richard Holmes, Coleridge: Early Visions (1989)Richard Holmes
Authored By
Source Encyclopaedia Britannica
In Genre
Lyric Poetry, Genres A narrative ballad rather than a pure lyric, but anthologized under lyric poetry with the rest of Lyrical Ballads; see the Ballad form entry for the distinction.
Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
In the Other Atlases
Original Language
Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.
Originated In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
WikipediaLead
written by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797-98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads, is a poem that recounts the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage.
Lead paragraph
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere), written by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1797-98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads, is a poem that recounts the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. Some modern editions use a revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss.
View the Source 2. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.- The Rime of the Ancient Mariner entry
- Authored By: Samuel Taylor Coleridge
View the Source The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Princeton University PressIn Genre: Lyric Poetry
Richard Holmes, Coleridge: Early Visions (1989)
Richard Holmes, 1989Associated With: The Ballad, Composed by Coleridge in ballad meter and stanza form for Lyrical Ballads (1798).
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