How does Coleridge tell the story in part 1 of Rime of the Ancient Mariner? Essay

As part 1 is the first of all parts in Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner, we are introduced to the characters in the poem and Coleridge establishes the setting of the poem. ‘It is an ancient Mariner†¦he stoppeth one of three. ’ The impersonal pronoun of ‘it’ suggests that this Mariner may not be human, however there is a change in pronoun with ‘he’, implying a liminal state of the Mariner; he is somewhere in between being supernatural and mortality, reinforced by the word, ‘ancient’. Coleridge’s use of archaic language is used to take the reader back in time to a bygone era, as well as acting as an indicator of setting. The Wedding Guest describes the Mariner in an other-worldly way, having a ‘long grey beard and glittering eye’; both the beard and the singular glittering eye possess connotations of wizardry and reinforce the idea that the Mariner may be a supernatural being. Coleridge creates a number of contrasts between the 1st and 2nd stanzas. The 2nd stanza is used to represent a ‘normal’ world, a world that the Mariner can never be a part of. In the stanza, ‘the Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide’, the word, ‘wide’, is juxtaposed by the Mariner’s unnatural obstruction to the Guest in the previous stanza, as well as to the potential story of the wedding. There is also a contrast between the tones of the stanzas, the atmosphere in the 1st stanza is particularly eerie, but we are presented with an upbeat tone and pace in the 2nd stanza, demonstrated through Coleridge’s use of internal rhyme, ‘the guests are met, the feast is set’. The festive imagery emphasises the upbeat nature of the stanza, ‘feast’, and ‘merry’. The 3rd and 4th stanzas are used by Coleridge to illustrate the extent of power that the Mariner has over the Guest. The Mariner ‘holds him with his skinny hand’, here, the Mariner has been able to physically obtain him against his will. The Mariner fails to answer the Guest’s question in the 1st stanza and begins, ‘there was a ship,’ here, this particular narrative gap creates suspense, adding to the poem’s tension. The Guest is unhappy and conveys his pain and anger through imperative sentence structure, ‘hold off! unhand me. ’ The structural device of exclamation also emphasises the pain felt by the Guest. We see Coleridge’s use of repetition in the 4th stanza, ‘he holds him with his glittering eye’, but this time instead of the Mariner’s hand; it’s his singular eye that is compelling the Guest to listen against his own will, suggesting that the Mariner possesses supernatural powers. The simile used by Coleridge, ‘listens like a three years child’, helps to highlight the true extent of the Guest’s vulnerability now that the Mariner has successfully transfixed him and ‘hath his will’, despite the fact that the Guest previously had more control over the Mariner; ‘his hand dropt he. ’ The Mariner’s begins his ‘rime’ in the 6th and 7th stanzas positively, using internal rhyme to create an upbeat rhythm and a more positive mood after the previous eerie stanzas, ‘the ship was cheered, the harbour cleared’. The imagery of security is what they are moving away from, creating a sense of foreboding. The sound created by the internal rhyme almost sounds crafted, helping to reflect the Mariner’s sense of familiarity with these objects associated with his home, ‘kirk’, ‘hill’, and the ‘light-house top’. The Mariner’s familiarity is emphasised by the anaphora, ‘before’. Coleridge uses further internal rhyme, ‘he shone bright, and on the right’, in order to maintain the positive mood and the upbeat rhythm. Coleridge also personifies the sun, perhaps to foreshadow the immense power of the sun that appears later on in the Mariner’s story. The consistent movement of the personified sun helps to indicate the passing of time within the story being told by the Mariner. The 8th, 9th and 10th stanzas act as a narrative break to the Mariner’s story, reminding the reader that a story within a story is being told. The story is interrupted by ‘the Wedding-Guest here beat[ing] his breast’; the animalistic imagery reflects the Guest’s primitive instincts to flee the Mariner’s grip, as well as his general frustration. This action from the Guest is in response to ‘the loud bassoon,’ creating a contrast between the mystical elements of the Mariner and the celebratory and festive event that the Guest is trying to be a part of. We see what the Guest is missing out on, ‘the bride†¦red as a rose is she’, although this simile is seemingly conventional, with closer inspection we are able to see that the bride is fully red, not just her lips, reflecting her full vibrancy, contrasted with the Mariner’s ‘skinny hand’. The wedding almost acts as a narrative backdrop; it demonstrates the joyous occasion that both the Guest and the Mariner are not a part of and serves to spotlight the tragic story that’s being told by the Mariner. Coleridge’s use of repetition, ‘he beat his breast’, is suggestive of the Mariner’s hypnotic ways and the guest’s continuous attempts to escape the grip of the Mariner. In the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th stanzas, the Mariner heavily depicts the weather and the environment. The capitalisation of ‘Storm’ is used to create a visual representation, and his use of personification, ‘he’, reflects the storm’s severity and power. He reinforces this idea by using predatory language, ‘his o’ertaking wings†¦chased us’, the storm is presented as some sort of dark, higher power. In the 12th stanza, Coleridge deviates from the traditional folk-ballad form, demonstrating the chaos at this particular point, as well as the Mariner’s heightened emotions. Coleridge reinforces the storm’s aggression through the use of onomatopoeic language, ‘roared’ and ‘blast’. In the 13th stanza, Coleridge returns to the traditional ballad structure to mark a sense of restored order now that the storm has stopped. ‘And now there came both mist and snow, and it grew wondrous cold’, the use of present tense, ‘now’, allows a shock for the reader, building tension. The use of assonance, ‘wondrous cold’, and short clauses forces the reader to pause and slow down, hindering the pace of the stanza, and therefore creating a contrast between the previous fast-moving and chaotic stanzas. The simile, ‘ice†¦as green as emerald’, marks the beginning of the Mariner and his ship’s problems; the green ice is peculiar and mysterious and hints at the supernatural. The Mariner describes the effects of the snow, ‘the snowy clifts did send a dismal sheen’, as ‘dismal’ possesses connotations with misery, and ‘sheen’ with impaired vision, the grouping of them creates a sense that there is no escape and no life wherever they are. These conditions are then emphasised through the personification of ice, ‘it cracked and growled, and roared and howled’, and the onomatopoeic language helps to show the possibly fatal effects of the ice. The anaphora, ‘the ice’, as well as the repetition reinforce this idea, and illustrate the true amount of ice they are surrounded by. In the final stanzas, we see the emergence of the Albatross, ‘at length did cross an Albatross, thorough the fog it came. ’ The capitalisation of ‘Albatross’ reflects his importance, as he is the only form of life that the ship can see. He emerges as a good omen from the ‘fog’, the fog having connotations of mystery and darkness, symbolising a newfound sense of hope, as the bird is like a gift sent from God. The religious lexical fields, ‘God’s name’, ‘hail’, ‘Christian soul’, reflect the Mariner’s gratitude towards God who he believes is responsible for the Albatross’ appearance. The internal rhyme, ‘cross’ and ‘Albatross’, conveys the uplifted mood of the Mariner now that the Albatross has apparently rescued their ship, ‘the ice did split’ and ‘a good south wind sprung up behind’. Further internal rhyme reinforces the upbeat mood of the Mariner, ‘the Albatross did follow, and every day, for food or play’, he is presented as almost anthropomorphic; he’s like an angel. The semantic fields about goodness and religion suggest that Coleridge’s poem is coming to an end, or at least leading in a different direction. Indeed, the story is quite upbeat until the mention of ‘moon-shine’, as moon often signifies near or distant change, a sense of foreboding is created. Perhaps the Guest realises this too, as the hyphen may represent another attempt to get away from the Mariner, or the Guest’s realisation that the Mariner is disturbed, ‘Why look’st thou so? †Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬Å"With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross’. The enjambment in the line helps to emphasise both the reader and the Guest’s honest reaction of shock. Coleridge ends part 1 with a cliff-hanger in order to create suspense in the poem, as well as a sense of mystery.