Wednesday, January 5, 2011

A Sadder-Wiser-Man

Without a doubt one of the most affected in the poem "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is the wedding guest.
Since the beggining of the poem, the wedding guest first starts to appear which bring great emphasize to the importance of him.
In the beggining, the mariner at the wedding pulls him aside to tell him a story. Although he may not wish to hear what the mariner has to say, he has no other option but to listen. "The wedding-guest sat on a stone, He cannot choose but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed mariner." This passage shows that they wedding guest is now in the possession of the mariner. Coleridge compares the wedding guest to a child as indicated in this passage "He holds him with his glittering eye- The wedding-guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: The mariner hath his will" which is also a key point to the end of the poem.
After the brief yet powerful introduction of the wedding guest, the mariner starts to tell his story. The poem is followed by the story. Toward the end, the guest reappears once again.
Thus after all these events have happend it is affirmed that the wedding guest has taken in knowledge that dramatically changes him as a human. "He went like one that hath been stunned And is of sense forlorn; A sadder and a wiser man He rose the morrow morn." The wedding guest has taken in what the mariner has told him, and input that knowledge in to what he is after this all happen.
Maybe the wedding guest was the type of person who took everything for granted and needed a change in his life. There are instances that change a person, and this was one of the cases. This may have been a point of reflection to what he used to be or maybe a prevention to change his way of thinking before it was too late.
Another part of the poem that strikes the attention happens with a correlation towards the beginning and the end. Towards the beginning when the mariner wants the attenting of the wedding guest, Coleridge mentions the mariner "He holds with his skinny hand, 'There was a ship', quoth he; 'Hold off! Unhand me, grey-beard loon!' Eftsoons his hand dropped he" Coleridge even draws out the mariner with glittering eyes. Towards the end it just mentions "the mariner, whose eye is bright, Whose beard with age is hoar, Is gone; and now the wedding-guest Turned from the bridegroom's door" which indicates a change in the mariner. This demonstrates not only a change in the mariner, but also the change the wedding guest also goes through.

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