
Episode 247: Introduction to “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
On The Literary Life podcast this week, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks begin their newest series, this time discussing Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. First, Thomas and Angelina speak to the question of different editions of this poem, then they dive into the background on Coleridge, William Wordsworth, and the lyrical ballads. They discuss the artistic and cultural moment in which Coleridge is writing, particularly the Romantic period in literature. Angelina talks about the Romantics and why they used so much medieval language and used allegory so heavily. She shares some examples of the writers in this vein seeking to rediscover and return to ancient tradition and stories. Thomas also considers Coleridge as a poet and a person. Finally, they give some helpful information and tips for those approaching this text for the first time.
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Commonplace Quotes:
Politically, there was in connection with the French Revolution, expansion in the direction of universal brotherhood. “Be my brother, or I will cut your throat,” was the motto of extreme philanthropists.
Andrew Lang
First published in 1798, worked on and reworked until its publication in its full form with the gloss in 1817 and further slight changes even to the last edition in Coleridge’s lifetime in 1834, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has never ceased to compel, baffle, intrigue and ultimately delight its readers from the end of the eighteenth to the beginning of the twenty-first century. It has been the subject of major critical essays and reviews and indeed of entire books. It has been seen as the central myth of the New Romantic Movement, the first truly symbolist poem, a poem of pure imagination, a moral tale, an immoral tale, a farrago of superstitions, a profound Christian allegory, a drug-fueled nightmare, a poem of psychological disintegration, a vision of final integration, and in more recent times, a prophetic ecological warning. It would seem that each generation, as it looks into the mysterious and reflective depths of this poem, find something telling, particular and intimate speaking to their soul.
Malcolm Guite
Epitaph On An Infant
by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Its balmy lips the infant blest
Relaxing from its mother's breast,
How sweet it heaves the happy sigh
Of innocent satiety!
And such my infant's latest sigh!
Oh tell, rude stone! the passer by,
That here the pretty babe doth lie,
Death sang to sleep with Lullaby.
Book List:
(Amazon Affiliate Links are included in this post.)
History of English Literature by Andrew Lang
Mariner: A Voyage with Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Malcolm Guite
Lyrical Ballads by Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth
Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
A Dish of Orts by George MacDonald
Reliques of Ancient English Poetry edited by Thomas Percy
Phantastes by George MacDonald
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One Comment
Sarah
Angelina mentions that ‘Frankenstein’ is often misunderstood; is there a possibility of the podcast doing an episode (or episodes) on that book in the future?