August 19

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

“Samuel Taylor Coleridge (21 October 1772 – 25 July 1834) was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan.” (IntelliQuest World’s 100 Greatest Books, 1995)

Read more about Coleridge here.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads.” (Wikipedia, 2013)

You will find a full written copy of Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner here.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, wood engravings by Gustave Dore (c.1832), poem narrated by Matt Black. This reading is in three films.

There’s another audio version of the poem well worth listening to, with Richard Burton – the mariner; Robert Hardy – the wedding guest; John Neville – narrator, probably recorded in 1955. It is broken into Video 1, Video 2 and Video 3.

Here is a list of websites to help you understand the poem:

The shmoop.com guide. Use the tabs at the top of the page to find the summary of the poem, analysis, quotes and questions about the poem.

You’ll find the Sparknotes guide here. Again, there are navigation tabs down the side of this main page to take you further.

Cummings Study Guide

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Wikipedia

Aquinas College Library Resources:

821 COL Samuel Taylor Coleridge

821 COL Selected poetry and prose of Coleridge

821 COL Selected poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge

821 WOR Wordsworth and Coleridge: lyrical ballads 1798

820.9 ACC Access related: resources for HSC English 2/3 unit related

820.9 KIN The Romantics: English literature in its historical, cultural and social contexts

Other Internet Resources:

This commentary gives some information about Coleridge’s life, the background to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and the ballad’s meaning.

The Romantics – Nature is a BBC documentary outlining how Romanticism arose during the middle of the Industrial Revolution. The film provides an understanding of the Romantic Movement, in particular, the poets William Blake, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

Iron Maiden recorded Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a retelling of Coleridge’s poem, which may help you understand the story of the poem. The lyrics are displayed on the screen.

Here is another Hip Hop adaptation of the poem using clips from Pirates of the Caribbean (Disney), Music Video by the Tiger Lillies for ‘Living Hell’, ‘Rime of the Hip Hop Mariners’ by Captain Dan & The Scurvy Crew, Wood Engravings by Gustave Dore (1832-1833), the sculpture by Alan B. Herriot (2003).

Try to identify which concepts of Pirates of the Caribbean originated in Coleridge’s poem.

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