The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (The Complete Illustrated Edition): The Most Famous Poem of the English literary critic, poet and philosopher, author of Kubla Khan, Christabel, Lyrical Ballads, Conversation Poems, Biographia Literaria, Anima Poetae...

By Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Gustave Doré

This carefully crafted ebook: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The Poem relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on the way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The wedding-guest's reaction turns from bemusement to impatience to fear to fascination as the mariner's story progresses, as can be seen in the language style: Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as personification and repetition to create a sense of danger, the supernatural, or serenity, depending on the mood in different parts of the poem. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834) was an English poet, 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: e-artnow
• Release date: Jan 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9788026839859

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) was an English poet and influential figure in the Romantic Movement of the nineteenth century. Born into a large family, Coleridge was the youngest of his father’s 14 children. He attended Jesus College, University of Cambridge with aspirations of becoming a clergyman. Yet, his goals changed when he encountered radical thinkers with different religious views. He befriended several writers and began a new career, publishing a collection called Poems on Various Subjects. Over the years, Coleridge would work as a critic, public speaker, translator and secretary all before his death in 1834.

Book preview

Seventh.

Part the First.

Table of Contents

It is an ancient Mariner,

And he stoppeth one of three.

"By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,

Now wherefore stopp’st thou me?

"The Bridegroom’s doors are opened wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May’st hear the merry din."

Wherefore stopp'st thou me?

He holds him with his skinny hand,

There was a ship, quoth he.

Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!

Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

He holds him with his glittering eye —

The Wedding–Guest stood still,

And listens like a three years child:

The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding Guest

The Wedding–Guest sat on a stone:

He cannot chuse but hear;

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,

Merrily did we drop

Below the kirk, below the hill,

Below the light-house top.

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.

Higher and higher every day,

Till over the mast at noon —

The Wedding–Guest here beat his breast,

For he heard the loud bassoon.

Reviews for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (The Complete Illustrated Edition)

[kaethe_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

No doubt this reflects a tremendous lack in me, but I don't get it. I got the rhythm, which is drilled into my brain, but the point of the thing eludes me. Sailor kills an albatross, which is bad, the ship is becalmed and everyone except him dies. Now he travels the earth where every so often he meets someone he is compelled to tell his story to. Poor wedding guest is stuck listening to the story, and is moved by it, which makes one of us.

I have no idea why killing albatrosses should be worse than killing anything else, no idea why he killed it in the first place, and no idea why everyone else should be killed thereby, nor why he is saved to tell the story. I'm going to guess it's something religious, or drug-addled. There are a few catchy lines, but there's a lot more that annoy me being so unnaturally stuffed into the scheme.

[poetontheone · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Dover edition with Doré's woodcuts adds a whole new dimension to Coleridge's poem. The horror, sublimity, and poignancy are greatly accentuated by them in the Dover edition. If you've read the poem before, loved it or hated it, revisit it in this edition and your opinion will evolve either way. If you haven't read it before, this is certainly no a bad way to become acquainted.

[benjaminhahn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm glad that Folio Society dedicated their efforts to such short work, and in a single volume. The wood engravings by Garrick Palmer have the same gothic tone even if they are a little too abstract for my taste. I think that Palmer also did the wood engravings for the Folio Society's Moby Dick as well. The poem itself is haunting and clever. I particularly like the moral of not hurting animals linked with the superstitions of sailors. I however fail to see all the connections to Christianity that other reviews mention. I think Coleridge was more fascinated by nature mysticism and old pagan believes and folksy form of story telling. Even though it took barely an hour to read slowly, the poem left me with a bit of a chill. Mainly because it leaves you wondering how much of the Mariners "rime" is a hallucination and how much is based in reality.

[michael5rimmer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Already having an edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner illustrated by Gustave Doré, I bought this one for the illustrations by my favourite book illustrator, Mervyn Peake.Where Doré beautifully catches the gothic mood of Coleridge's verse, Peake catches the macabre, tenebrous quality of the Mariner's feverish nightmare. In her introduction, Marina Warner tells of how Peake's commissioning editor found his illustration of the Night-mare Life-in-Death too horrifying for its intended 1940s British readership and her portrait was dropped from the first edition, though much reprinted since and included here.Much as I love Peake's work, I wish for an edition printed on better quality paper to present them in the fashion they deserve.As for the poem, what can I say that hasn't been said before and more eloquently?

[alcracka · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great setup for Moby-Dick!

[tullius22 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It's magnificent--a true English epic. I 'cannot choose but hear'. (10/10)

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I mean, I guess it's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by ST Coleridge, but more like it's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Doré, libretto by Coleridge. Either way it's great, and occasioned some great conversations between me and my son on thoughtlessness and doom.

[markbstephenson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many years ago I heard a radio broadcast of Richard Burton reading this which moved me very deeply. I still reread it every so often just as I reread scripture and other writings which remind me of God's pure love for all his creations-even me.

[joe73-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Haunting and terrifying story. A poem, a story, a little of everything. Case in point. Don't take your life for granted. Some have it much worse than you. I feel that the author accomplished what many writers before him attempted to capture. He truly scares the crap out of you. Not for your sake but for the Mariners sake. STC truly brings out the chill in the fog and isolation of the world around us. I am an old sailor and I spent many nights out on deck during my off time thinking about this book and the character. It made my life experiences so much more realistic and enjoyable.