The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the tale told by an ancient mariner to a wedding guest. The ancient mariner tells of his journey on a ship in which the ship is trapped in ice. The ice is too thick to break through, but an albatross mysteriously appears, and the ice is broken through. The ancient mariner then shot the albatross with his cross bow, after which the ship is once again stuck in the ice and the other mariners force him to wear the albatross around his neck. Death claims the souls of all two hundred mariners, excepting this ancient mariner. After several days he sees the snakes of the sea and looks favorably upon them, at which point his curse is broken, and the albatross falls from his neck. The dead mariners rise as ghosts and sail the ship onward, eventually finding an island where the ancient mariner meets a Hermit and first tells his story, the beginning of his journey through life in which he tells of hs aventure to all who he meets.
This is a fantastic poem, and includes famous stanzas like the following:
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
and,
He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us
He made and loveth all.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is made available in parts and in whole at the locations below.
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