What Makes ‘the Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ a Strange and Powerful Poem?

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Samuel Taylor Coleridge the author of ‘The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’ wrote his ballad using key factors to emphasize the power and abnormality of the piece. Coleridge applies contrast to an unconventional narrative through setting and action. He also uses linguistic and structural devices to create a dynamic atmosphere. Coleridge uses specific literary terms in his poem for effect. For example he personifies death, which accentuates the sense of fear in the writing and adds potency. In the quote ‘the night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she’ he uses personification by portraying death as a woman. This is alarming because death is a lifeless and dark thing so conveying it as a person is considerably unexpected. For most people death is an immensely unnerving and painful subject but it is inexperiencable to any living being. So being faced with it as a living, breathing person is powerfully frightening. The author uses similes to generate more puissant, vivid imagery. The simile ‘her skin as white as leprosy’ is quite petrifying because leprosy is a severe illness causing disfigurement and deformities to limbs. Describing the colour of somebodies pigment as a disease is seriously unsettling especially as leprosy can be extremely fatal. Repetition is a frequently used term in The Ancient Mariner. Coleridge uses repetition to create impact. In the quote ‘water, water everywhere but no a drop to drink’ Samuel uses repetition to emphasize the amount of water there was and emphasize the fact that none of it was consumable, it also automatically adds alliteration to the piece, creating a greater rhythm. In ‘The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner’ Coleridge uses contrasts to create effect. For example the whole poem is a contrast. It is begun at a very happy and joyful wedding then dramatically switched to a horrific sea nightmare. At the beginning the ancient

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