THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT

MARINERLines 117 – 128 (Part II – Lines 25 – 36)

The lose the good breeze at their backs, and

without a breeze to fill the sails, the ship can't

move. Suddenly, the "silence" of the uncharted

waters sounds very ominous. And they speak

only to break that silence

Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down

‘Twas sad as could be ;

And we did only speak to break

The silence of the sea!

The sun is small and "blood-red“. It looks very

far away. The sky has a strange fiery colour,

but their main problem is a lack of water. If

they don't find some kind of land they will all

die of thirst.

All in a hot and copper sky

The bloody sun, at noon,

Right up above the mast did stand,

No bigger than the moon

There's no wind. Literally. Not even a tiny

gust. The ocean looks like glass, and the scene

is so motionless that it could be a painting.

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath, nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean

SUMMARY OF PART IIAfter the mariner shot the albatross, it set a curse in motion. The curse doesn’t take effect immediately. At verses 3 and 5: the crew decries the ancient mariner for killing the bird “that made the breeze blow”, but the breeze is still blowing! It doesn’t die down until verse 8. Before that, the mist evaporates, and the crew expresses approval of the mariner for killing those birds “that bring the fog and mist”.

Many commentators agree that verse 4, where the crew approve of the mariner killing the bird when they see the mist disappear, is a crucial verse. Before, the crew was innocent: only the mariner was stained with the sin of aviaricide.

Finally the curse comes fully into effect. The ship sits idle, helpless without a breeze to fill her sail. And then the curse takes a supernatural turn: the ocean itself begins to rot, and the sailors see many disturbing sights. Sitting idle for so long, the crew has exhausted its water supply and every man is dehydrating. But they still have enough sense to point the finger of blame at our poor hero.