The Mystery of Mariner// Emily Otts

     When reading The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I was somewhat confused as to the meaning behind the poem. The Ancient Mariner begins to tell an unsuspecting wedding guest his story. He tells him of how, by killing an Albatross, he brought about the death of his crew. After being released from the curse, he is able to come across a Pilot, his son, and a Hermit. He ends the tale, speaking of how he must tell his story to be relieved from his guilt for a time. 

    Part of me thinks, how would one have the imagination to come up with a story like this? To me, it seems like a random story. As if the poet made it up as he went along. But knowing poetry, I know very well that there must be a deeper meaning to this. I just cannot tell exactly what he could mean. 

    I think that might actually be the point. I have noticed in works that are hard to understand, typically any interpretation of it is accepted. Whatever it means to someone, that is a valid thing. I believe this work possibly had the same thing going on. Sure, there might be a specific meaning for it, but it is also easy for someone to come up with a different meaning to them. This makes the poem much more memorable and easier to have discussions about. 

I commented on Taylor Vice's and Braylan Stringfellow's posts. 

Comments

  1. Emmett BryantOctober 18, 2021 at 9:43 PM

    Hey Emily!
    I honestly love your take on this and I agree with you. What if every time we day dreamed or had a random, strange thought we sat down and got to writing? There's no telling what type of fantastical and mystical stories we could come up with. There would be no shortage of mind boggling literature that's for sure. - Emmett Bryant

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  2. Haylee LyndOctober 18, 2021 at 10:54 PM

    All the blog posts I have read about the Ancient Mariner tonight have had slightly different interpretations to the meaning and I think that is amazing. I am sure the poet intended to convey something through his writing, but your description of how it seems like the poet wrote the story seems in line with Wordsworth definition of poetry: an overflow of powerful feelings recollected in tranquility. The overflow of powerful feelings inspires the craziness of the store. Recollecting those feelings in tranquility helps make it more fluent in order to convey the meaning.

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