A Biographical Analysis of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is a somewhat lengthy poem concerning the paranormal activities of a sea mariner and his crew. The work was constructed to be the beginning piece in Lyrical Ballads, a two-volume set written by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. Wordsworth intended to, in his volume, make the ordinary seem extraordinary, while Coleridge aimed to make the extraordinary ordinary. “The Rime” was first published in 1798. Despite the current popularity of the piece, it was harshly criticized upon being first published. One of “The Rime’s” toughest opponents was Wordsworth himself, who claimed that the poem had “neither characterization nor proper agency nor skill in the handling of imagery” (Fry, 12). Wordsworth even bluntly described the piece as being in the wrong overall meter (Fry, 12). Because of these presumed flaws, “The Rime” was edited into several subsequent editions, being released in 1800, 1802, 1805, 1817...