Group 1:

ANNISAA’ ARSY HIDAYAT (E1D018011)

ASTRINA RATNA DILA (E1D018016)

Class : English Education IV A Morning

The Rime Of Ancient Mariner

A. Figurative Language

 Alliteration:
Alliteration is a literary device where words are used in quick succession and begin with
letters belonging to the same sound group. Whether it is the consonant sound or a specific
vowel group, the alliteration involves creating a repetition of similar sounds in the sentence.
Alliterations are also created when the words all begin with the same letter. Alliterations are
used to add character to the writing. For example in part 2, line 102-103;
The breezes blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow follow'd free:
The bold word is an example of alliteration in the poem.
 Anaphora:
The term anaphora refers to a type of parallelism created when successive phrases or lines
begin with the same words. The repetition can be as simple as a single word or as long as an
entire phrase. For example in part 1, line 27-28:
Below the Kirk, below the Hill,
Below the Light-house top.
Here, ‘below’ is used as anaphora to create a litany and rhyme.
 Assonance:
It is the effect created when there is a repetition of a vowel sound in stressed syllables with
different consonant sounds. Assonance can be understood to be a kind of alliteration. What
sets it apart from alliterations is that it is the repetition of only vowel sounds. This effect is
used widely throughout the ballad to establish its rhythm. For example in part 1, line 21-22:
The Ship was cheer'd, the Harbour clear'd--
Merrily did we drop
Assonance appears in the long ‘e’ sound in cheer’d and clear’d.
 Consonance:
Consonance refers to repetition of sounds in quick succession produced by consonants within
a sentence or phrase. The repetitive sound is often found at the end of a word. Consonance is
the opposite of assonance. For example in part 1, line 27-28:
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the Sea.
The words ‘bright’ and ‘right’ have the same last consonants, creating the effect of
consonance.
 Elision:
Elision refers to the leaving out of an unstressed syllable or vowel, usually in order to keep a
regular meter in a line of poetry. It is the deliberate omission of a sound between two words.
In Rime of the Ancient Mariner, elision is used repeatedly:
It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd--
Like noises of a swound. (Line 61-62)
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew. (Line 67-68)
And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe: (Line 91-92)
The highlighted words are examples of elision.
 Hyperbole:
A hyperbole is a literary device wherein the author uses specific words and phrases that
exaggerate and overemphasize the basic crux of the statement in order to produce a grander,
more noticeable effect. The purpose of hyperbole is to create a larger-than-life effect and
overly stress a specific point. Such sentences usually convey an action or sentiment that is
generally not practically or realistically possible or plausible but helps emphasize an emotion.
For example in lines
As idle as a painted Ship
Upon a painted Ocean. (Line 117-118)
This hyperbole is used because it stretches the truth so that we understand how still the boat
is.
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink. (Line 121-122)
The poet has used exaggeration to define the ancient mariner’s thirst when he is stranded in
the ocean and how he can’t drink a drop of that huge mass of water.
 Imagery:
In poetry, one of the strongest devices is imagery when the poet uses words and phrases to
create ‘mental images’ for the reader. Imagery helps the reader to visualize and hence more
realistically experience the author’s writings. The usage of descriptive words and similes,
amongst other literary forms, in order to awaken the readers’ sensory perceptions is referred
to as imagery. Imagery is not limited to only visual sensations, but also refers to sensations of
taste, smell, touch and hearing as well. For example
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound! (Line 59-62)
These lines appeal specifically to the sense of sight and hearing when the ice is described as
cracking, growling, roaring and howling noises.
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink. (Lines 121-122)
These lines portray the intense thirst the narrator felt which plays with the reader’s sense of
taste.
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea. (Lines 125-126)
These lines appeal to the sense of touch because we are repulsed by the reading the
description of ‘slimy insects’ with their legs and the sea as ‘slimy’.
 Inversion:
The term ‘inversion’ refers to the practice of changing the conventional placement of words.
It is a literary practice typical of the classical poetry. It is usually used for the purpose of
laying emphasis. It helps to arrange the poem in a manner that catches the attention of the
reader not only with its content but also with its physical appearance; a result of the peculiar
structuring. For example Coleridge inverts the word order from time to time, as the following
lines demonstrate:
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung. (Lines 141-142)
The normal word order of this line would be ‘was hung about my neck’.
The naked hulk alongside came (line 195)
Here the normal word order would be ‘came alongside’.
  Irony:
The use of irony refers to playing around with words such that the meaning implied by a
sentence or word is actually different from the literal meaning derived. Often, irony is used to
suggest the stark contrast of the literal meaning being put forth. The deeper, real layer of
significance is revealed not by the words themselves but the situation and the context in
which they are placed. For example:
Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink. (Lines 119-122)
These lines signify that water is everywhere, but there is none to actually drink.
 Metaphor:
A metaphor refers to a meaning or identity ascribed to one subject by way of another. In a
metaphor, one subject is implied to be another so as to draw a comparison between their
similarities and shared traits. The first subject, which is the focus of the sentences, is usually
compared to the second subject, which is used to convey a degree of meaning that is used to
characterize the first. The purpose of using a metaphor is to take an identity or concept that
we understand clearly (second subject) and use it to better understand the lesser-known
element (the first subject). For example:
They coil'd and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire. (Lines 281-282)
In the above stated lines, the metaphor is the comparison of the wake of the waves left by the
sea snakes with fire.
O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessèd them unaware: (Lines 282-285)
A ‘spring of love gushed from my heart’ is the metaphor used for love in this line by
Coleridge. It shows how beautiful the bride and groom looked that the ancient mariner
blessed them with a spring of love gushing from his heart.
 Onomatopoeia:
The term refers to words whose very sound is very close to the sound they are meant to
depict. In other words, it refers to sound words whose pronunciation to the actual sound or
noise they represent. For example
It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd (Line 61)
The words in bold are onomatopoeia i.e. when pronounced they portray the sounds of actions
they represent.
 Oxymoron:
It allows the author to use contradictory, contrasting concepts placed together in a manner
that actually ends up making sense in a strange, and slightly complex manner. An oxymoron
is an interesting literary device because it helps to perceive a deeper level of truth and explore
different layers of semantics while writing. For example:
And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold: (Line 51-52)
The phrase wondrous cold is an oxymoron.
And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen: (Line 55-56)
‘Dismal sheen’ is the oxymoron used in these lines.
 Paradox:
A paradox refers to the use of concepts or ideas that are contradictory to one another, yet,
when placed together they hold significant value on several levels. The uniqueness of
paradoxes lies in the fact that a deeper level of meaning and significance is not revealed at
first glance, but when it does crystallize, it provides astonishing insight. For example:
 Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
The charmèd water burnt alway
A still and awful red. (Lines 267-271)
This warring imagery of the moon spreads frosty colors across the ship, but the water burns
red in its shadow. While the moon might calm the curse momentarily, it still lies beneath.
 Personification:
Personification refers to the practice of attaching human traits and characteristics with
inanimate objects, phenomena and animals.
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea. (Lines 25-28)
In these lines, the sun is personified as a human being.
Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread; (Line 267-268)
The moon in these lines is personified as a mocking woman.
 Rhyme Scheme:
It is the practice of rhyming words placed at the end of the lines. Rhyme scheme refers to the
order in which particular words rhyme. If the alternate words rhyme, it is an “a-b-a-b” rhyme
scheme, which means “a” is the rhyme for the lines 1 and 3 and “b” is the rhyme affected in
the lines 2 and 4. For example most stanzas in ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ have four-lines,
called a ‘quatrain’, but not all of the stanzas have exactly four lines. The second and fourth
line of each four-line stanza rhyme, providing a song like rhythm; e.g. ‘hand’ and ‘sand’ in
the first stanza. But some stanzas have five lines. In these stanzas the second line rhymes with
the fifth, the third line rhymes with the fourth. Some stanzas contain six lines. In these
stanzas the second, fourth and sixth lines rhyme.
 Simile:
It is the practice of drawing parallels or comparisons between two unrelated and dissimilar
things, people, beings, places and concepts. By using similes a greater degree of meaning and
understanding is attached to an otherwise simple sentence. The reader is able to better
understand the sentiment the author wishes to convey. Similes are marked by the use of the
words ‘as’ or ‘such as’ or ‘like’. For example
Every soul, it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow! (Lines 223-224)
In these lines, there is the comparison of the passing of a soul to the sound of a shot arrow.
The sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
Lay like a load on my weary eye (Lines 251-252)
Comparison of the sky and sea to a weight on the eye is the simile in these lines.
 Symbol:
A symbol is literary device that contains several layers of meaning, often concealed at first
sight, and is representative of several other aspects or concepts and traits than those that are
visible in the literal translation alone. Symbol is using an object or action that means
something more than its literal meaning. For example, in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner,
the Mariner is an actual symbolic representation of Adam. The Ancient Mariner slaying of
the Albatross is equal to Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of
Knowledge. The moon and sun also play an important symbol in this story. The sun
represents God’s influence of wrathful power but the moon has a more positive association
than the sun. Generally troubling outcome happens to the Mariner during the day while more
favorable result happens by moon light. For example, the mariner’s curse lifts and he returns
home by moonlight.
B. Setting of the story

There are two settings in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” In the first scene
an ancient mariner stops a guest at a wedding party and begins to tell his tale. The
mariner’s words then transport the reader on a long ocean voyage, returning to the
wedding at the end of the poem. The story is probably set in the late medieval period;
the town in which the action occurs is never named, although it is likely that
Coleridge’s audience would have pictured a British seaport, possibly London.

The mariner describes a voyage he takes as a youth from an unnamed

European country to the South Pole and back. The initial descriptions of the ship and
its crew are fairly realistic, but as the ancient mariner undergoes his quest for
understanding and redemption, the supernatural world increasingly engulfs him. His
world becomes nightmarish when contrasted with the realistic world that he has left
behind. At the same time, in the background, elements from the natural world are
always present. For much of the poem, the mariner is adrift in the middle of the
ocean, symbolically cut off from all human companionship.

C. Plot Scheme of the story

Part 1

Intent on relating his tale, an old sailor stops a young man on his way to a wedding.
The Mariner tells of an ocean voyage with a sailing crew. Once the ship gets blown
off course, it ends up at the South Pole, trapped in ice. When an Albatross passes, its
presence seems to break the ice surrounding the ship. The crew sails away with the
Albatross following. The Mariner then shoots the Albatross for no reason.

Part 2

Believing the bird had brought favorable winds, the crew becomes angry. Then crew
members are glad that the Mariner shot the Albatross because they believe the bird
brought a thick fog. The ships sails into strange waters and then the wind ceases.
Suffering from terrible thirst that drives them mad, the men hang the dead Albatross
around the Mariner's neck.

Part 3

The Mariner spies a strange ghostly ship, piloted by Death and Life-in-Death . The
two figures roll dice to see who will take the Mariner's soul, and Life-in-Death wins
the game. Death takes the lives of the crew, leaving the Mariner the only live person
on the ship.

Part 4
 The Mariner has no food or water, but still he lives. He watches sea serpents swim in
the water, blessing their presence. When the Albatross breaks free from the Mariner's
neck, he is suddenly able to pray again.

Part 5

The Mariner sleeps and wakes to find rain that he can drink. As a storm approaches,
the ship sails on, seemingly without any wind to propel it. Their bodies taken over by
angels, the dead crew members help sail the ship. Suddenly the ship is tossed about
and the Mariner falls into a swoon where he hears two voices talking about him and
the penance he must do.

Part 6

When the Mariner wakes, night has fallen. The crew members continue to sail the
ship until it appears in the Mariner's home harbor. Then the spirits inhabiting the
bodies leave, and the crew members collapse, truly dead. A Pilot, his son, and a
Hermit approach the ship.

Part 7

The ship sinks, but the Mariner is hauled aboard the Pilot's boat. They are all shocked
when he speaks, thinking him dead. When they return to land, the Mariner tells the
Hermit his tale. When he is finished, he feels better. The Mariner tells the Wedding
Guest that the need to tell his tale grows inside of him and then he must find someone
to tell it to or the pain becomes unbearable. His tale told, the Mariner leaves the
Wedding Guest, who goes home and ponders what the Mariner told him.

D. Moral Messages/Lessons

Morals in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Appreciation of Life April 23, 2019 by
sampler Anna Barbauld may have believed that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner had
no moral, but Coleridge is correct when he insists that “the poem had too much” (qtd.
in Coleridge 6: 272). The moral of his ballad is to appreciate all forms of life. To
develop this theme, Coleridge utilizes imagery and symbolism to create an implicit
partnership between Life-in-Death and the Moon. The purpose of their partnership is
simple; they both serve to punish the Mariner for his crime. In the end, their goal is to
teach him a lesson that he will never forget.To understand how they achieve this goal,
one must first examine how the Moon sets up the premise of the theme. When the
Moon is first seen, the Albatross is still alive and the Mariner remarks, “Whiles all the
night, through fog-smoke white / Glimmered the white moon-shine” (77-78). Even
with the mist and fog, the imagery here is pleasant. Glimmered has a positive
connotation that implies beauty, whereas white is a pure color that often represents
innocence. One realizes that in this scene, the Mariner and his crew have the Moon’s
blessing because they receive the bird with hospitality. Though it appears the Moon is
not concerned either way, it becomes clear that she is when there is a shift in the
visual language. Once the Mariner shoots the Albatross, the pleasing imagery turns
menacing to reveal the Moon’s disapproval of the Mariner’s actions. Now, the
Mariner notices, “The death-fires danced at night; / The water, like a witch’s oils, /
Burnt green, and blue and white” (128-130). Though the Moon is not mentioned
directly, common knowledge dictates that the moon typically appears at night and the
Mariner must have a source of light to see this. He bestows the death-fires, which
sailors of this time period believed to be a sign of disaster. Instead of glimmered, the
water burnt, a word that uses the image of fire to create a sense of pain. Plus, the word
oil portrays the water as greasy and repulsive. The imagery of this scene is crucial
because it highlights the differences of when the Albatross was alive and when it was
killed. This can also be inferred from the supplementary information on the side that
declares, “And the Albatross begins to be avenged” (260). At this point, one is aware
that the Moon is not pleased because the Mariner shot the Albatross, but the reason
for caring about the bird is still unknown. When Life-in-Death is introduced, the
reason is revealed and the central theme progresses. Although Life-in-Death and the
Moon do not interact directly, their subtle partnership is depicted with the
juxtaposition of beauty and terror. Life-in-Death’s beauty is one of the first aspects
the Mariner notices as he describes her red lips and golden hair. However, he quickly
adds, “Her skin was as white as leprosy,” (192). The contrast of beauty and terror here
is significant to the theme because of what they symbolize. Life-in-Death’s red lips
and golden hair are all traits of the living, whereas white skin is akin to a corpse and
leprosy was most likely fatal in this time period. Coleridge is equating beauty with
life and equating everything horrific with death. Similar parallels are drawn between
Life-in-Death and the Moon to emphasize this theme. Later, the Mariner refers to the
Moon as her for the first time and notices that she is moving. After mentioning that
she abides no where he muses, “Softly she was going up, / And a star or two beside
— / Her beams bemocked the sultry main” (265-267). Compared to Life-in-Death, the
Moon is also depicted as feminine with words such as softly and bemocked, as if the
dry, unappealing landscape could not compare to her beams. Coleridge also mentions
her freedom and ability to move because that is how her beauty is symbolic for life;
corpses cannot move by themselves, unless possessed by a spirit. Either way, they do
not have the freedom of movement, which is another reason to appreciate life. Again,
the Moon has the horrific traits that Life-in-Death possesses as well. As soon as Life-
in-Death wins the Mariner’s soul, the Sun immediately disappears and the Moon takes
his place. The Moon is an image of terror as the Mariner recalls, “The horned Moon,
with one bright star / Within the nether tip / One after one by the star-dogged Moon,”
(209-211). During this age, this impossible image of a lunar eclipse with one star in
the shadow of the Moon was a sign of impending evil and evil is typically associated
with death. Now, by looking at how Life-in-Death’s and the Moon’s beauty
symbolizes life, compared to the horrific images that represent death, the theme
slowly begins to build. One sees that life is beautiful and death is not, but that does
not lead to the conclusion that life should be cherished. It is the seemingly careless
actions of Life-in-Death that draw that conclusion. She wins over the Mariner’s soul
through a game of dice and though stealing a soul seems monumentous, Coleridge
spends one or two lines describing her victory. This act may seem random, but once
compared with the crime of the Mariner, one realizes that this is the Mariner’s
punishment. The Mariner shoots the Albatross for no given reason. Life-in-Death
randomly kills his crew and takes the Mariner’s soul for no reason stated. When the
Mariner notes that the souls flew by “like the whizz of (his) cross-bow”, one can infer
that this is about killing the Albatross. Now the finality of the message becomes clear;
the Mariner did not appreciate the Albatross’s life and he is punished for it. Through
imagery and symbolism, one sees that the Moon and Life-in-Death do not condone
life being murdered. This is why they punish the Mariner. The Moon sets up the
question of why life should be appreciated and Life-in-Death provides the answer; it
is because one will be punished otherwise. Which, finally, ties back into the theme of
appreciating all forms of life. The reason for appreciating all forms of life is not
necessarily to avoid punishment, but the threat of being punished by Moon and Life-
in-Death is what stresses the importance of this appreciation and makes it one of the
main morals in the story.