Incantations of the Supernatural in Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Incantations of the Supernatural in "Rime Of the Ancient Mariner" Samuel Taylor Coleridge states his duties in writing for the Lyrical Ballads ".... to be, in part at least, supernatural; and the excellence aimed at was to consist in the interesting of the affections by the dramatic truth of such emotions, supposing them real" ( "Biographia Literaria"). Coleridge was to write about the supernormal in such a way that the ordinary person would be able to believe such occurrences could happen. It seemed that Coleridge's responsibility was not to haunt or terrorize his readers, but to excite and grab their interest through unnatural happenings. And, with the willing suspension of disbelief, the common man could relate to his accounts. Samuel Taylor Coleridge adhered to his duties in the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by evoking supernatural elements within his main character the Mariner, descriptions of the ghost ship and its crew, and the unexplainable atmospheric changes that occur throughout the poem. Early in the poem the Mariner was depicted as having a supernatural power to hypnotize the Wedding-Guest. Coleridge writes, "He holds him with his glittering ey
The demon vessel vanished as quickly as it appeared just like the Mariner. The ship could be described as dead as its passengers. "With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea, / Off shot the spectre-bark" (201-202). However, part of the appeal of the poem was that it could never be totally and fully explained. Coleridge's supernatural elements were not only limited to the character of the Mariner, the ghost ship or his drastic changes of the weather. His style allowed the reader to believe, given poetic faith, that anyone could happen upon these situations within his time. He transformed the weather from hot to cold, and back to sweltering heat again. The Mariner seemed to be someone who had certain capabilities that extended beyond that of natural men. The Wedding-Guest wanted to leave the Mariner but the guest was thwarted by the Mariners hypnotic stare. Coleridge put this all together in his character the Mariner. One could only guess that a heavenly power was at will. At times, all of a sudden the wind would die down and becalm the ship. The construction was of such that no human could have imagined. "Without a breeze, without a tide, / She steadies with upright keel!" (618-620). One of the passengers was depicted in ghostly terms.
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