Concetti Chiave
- An old sailor recounts his journey to the South Pole where he killed an albatross, triggering a series of tragic events.
- The mariner's act is seen as a crime against nature, symbolizing a disruption of the universe's divine order.
- As a result of his actions, the mariner is doomed to wander the earth, sharing his tale of repentance.
- The poem blends dialogue, narration, and supernatural elements, characteristic of traditional ballads.
- Distinct from typical ballads, it features a tragic conclusion, moral lessons, and straightforward language.
THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
An old sailor tells the story of his last voyage. He was sailing towards the South Pole when he suddenly killed an albatross without any reasons this starts a series of fatefully events and hallucinations: the mariners die one after the other since a ghost representing death wins against death the life of mariners. The old mariner is the only survivor and repents but he is condemned to travel all his life from land to land to tell his story.
The Crime Against Nature
The mariner is guilty of a crime against nature It is not just a birth that is killed, this attack is symbolic because the mariners has committed the crime against creation and its positive life forces, thus he destroyed a divine order of the universe and must expiate this sin for the rest of his life.
This poems contains many features traditionally associated with ballads that are both in style and in content: combination of dialogue and narration, repetitions, internal rhyme, supernatural events, internal rhyme. Different from traditional ballads are the tragic end, moral aim, simple and direct language.