Books › Rime of the ancient mariner
Rime of the ancient mariner
First published 1836 · 358 pages
A hypnotic, dread-soaked descent into maritime madness and the inescapable weight of a single, thoughtless act.
What it feels like
Reading this foundational gothic ballad feels like being cornered by a wild-eyed stranger who has seen the edge of the world and returned forever changed. The experience is deeply hypnotic, driven by a rhythmic, pulsing meter that pulls you through a hallucinatory seascape of painted oceans, rotting ships, and spectral encounters. It is a dread-soaked, atmospheric journey that oscillates between the sublime beauty of nature and the suffocating terror of absolute isolation. The language is archaic yet strikingly vivid, etching unforgettable, nightmarish imagery into the mind. It will captivate readers who crave dark, maritime folklore, supernatural dread, and lyrical explorations of guilt, penance, and the terrifying majesty of the natural world.
- Mood
- eerie
- dread-soaked
- hallucinatory
- sublime
- Tone
- hypnotic
- ominous
- confessional
- earnest
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the burden of guilt · supernatural terror · spiritual redemption · isolation · reverence for nature
- The writing
- Written in a rhythmic, hypnotic ballad meter filled with vivid, archaic imagery and striking internal rhyme.
- The arc
- Moves from eerie fascination and shocking guilt into a harrowing, hallucinatory despair, culminating in a lifelong compulsion for penance.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love gothic atmosphere, maritime folklore, and lyrical explorations of guilt and the supernatural.
Content notes
- animal death
- starvation
- psychological torment
- death of companions
- supernatural horror
About the book
A mariner stops a man on his way to a wedding. The mariner then relates to the man all the events of a long sea voyage, arousing in his listener feeling of impatience, fear, fascination and bemusement.The Rime of the Ancient Mariner was published in the collection Lyrical Ballads (1798), which contributed significantly to the advent of modern poetry and the beginnings of British Romance literature.
Description from Open Library.
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