The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Part 3 Summary

Stanza 1: The weary crew's suffering continues

There passed a weary time. Each throat / Was parched, and glazed each eye. / A weary time! a weary time! / How glazed each weary eye,

A long and exhausting period of time passes for the ship and its crew. The sailors suffer from extreme thirst—their throats are dry and parched from the lack of fresh water. Their eyes are red, swollen, and glazed over from crying and suffering.

The repetition of "weary time" and "glazed each weary eye" emphasizes the length and difficulty of their suffering. The word "glazed" suggests that the sailors' eyes have lost their ability to see clearly. They are exhausted by hunger, thirst, and heat.

The crew has been stuck in the middle of the ocean for many days with no wind to move the ship and no fresh water to drink. They are surrounded by salt water that cannot quench their thirst. The opening of Part 3 shows the terrible consequences of the Mariner's killing of the albatross.

Stanza 2: The Mariner sees something in the sky

When looking westward, I beheld / A something in the sky.

While looking toward the west, the Mariner notices something unusual in the sky. This brief mention creates suspense about what the object might be.

The appearance of something new in the empty, hopeless sky immediately gives the crew hope. Perhaps help is coming. Perhaps rescue is near.

Stanza 3: The shape becomes clearer

At first it seemed a little speck, / And then it seemed a mist; / It moved and moved, and took at last / A certain shape, I wist.

At first, what the Mariner sees appears to be a very small speck—a tiny dot on the horizon that barely seems real. As he watches more carefully, the object begins to look like mist or fog.

As the object continues to move and evolve, it gradually takes on a more defined shape. The Mariner becomes increasingly certain about what he is seeing. The uncertainty and gradual clarification build suspense and hope.

Stanza 4: The object moves closer with strange movements

A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist! / And still it neared and neared: / As if it dodged a water-sprite, / It plunged and tacked and veered.

The Mariner repeats the sequence of what he has seen—speck, mist, shape—emphasizing the gradual transformation and his increasing certainty. The object is definitely coming closer to the ship with each moment.

The object moves in strange and unusual ways. It seems to be dodging something, like it is avoiding a water-sprite (a supernatural creature of water). The object plunges, tacks (changes direction), and veers sharply. This unnatural movement suggests something supernatural is approaching.

Stanza 5: The Mariner bites his arm and cries "A sail!"

With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, / We could nor laugh nor wail; / Through utter drought all dumb we stood! / I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, / And cried, A sail! a sail!

The sailors' throats are still extremely dry and unslaked—no water has entered their mouths. Their lips are blackened and baked from the extreme heat and dryness. The crew is so desperate and exhausted that they cannot laugh with joy or wail with despair.

The extreme dryness has made all the sailors speechless—they are completely dumb and silent from thirst. The Mariner is so desperate that he bites his own arm hard enough to draw blood. In his extreme thirst, he sucks the blood from his arm, hoping to ease the terrible dryness in his mouth.

Despite his own suffering, the Mariner cries out with all his remaining strength: "A sail! a sail!" He believes he has seen a ship approaching. The Mariner's cry gives the other sailors hope and awakens their will to survive.

Stanza 6: The crew responds with hope and desperation

With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, / Agape they heard me call: / Gramercy! they for joy did grin, / And all at once their breath drew in, / As they were drinking all.

The other sailors hear the Mariner's cry with wide open mouths—their jaws drop in shock and hope. They respond with the word "Gramercy," which is an old word meaning "thank you" or "thank God."

The sailors grin with joy because they believe a ship is really approaching them. All of them together take a sudden sharp breath, as if breathing in air like they are drinking water. Their reaction shows how desperate they have become.

The sailors' reaction shows both relief and the desperation that comes from extreme suffering. The crew has been suffering in silence and despair, but suddenly the possibility of rescue seems real. Together, they are clinging to hope as their last chance for survival.

Stanza 7: The strange ship approaches without wind or tide

See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more! / Hither to work us weal; / Without a breeze, without a tide, / She steadies with upright keel!

The Mariner cries out again, drawing the crew's attention to the ship approaching them. He tells them to look—the ship is tacking no more, which means it has stopped changing direction and is now sailing straight toward them. The word "weal" means good or well-being.

Something is very strange about this ship. It moves without a breeze—there is no wind pushing it forward. It moves without a tide—no ocean current is carrying it. Yet the ship steadies itself with its keel upright, moving steadily and deliberately toward them.

This ship is moving by supernatural power, not by natural forces of wind and water. The crew does not seem to notice or care about this strangeness. They are too desperate to question the miracle that is approaching them. However, the reader begins to realize something sinister is approaching.

Stanza 8: The ghostly ship appears between crew and setting sun

The western wave was all a-flame. / The day was well nigh done! / Almost upon the western wave / Rested the broad bright Sun; / When that strange shape drove suddenly / Betwixt us and the Sun.

The sea in the west appears to be on fire—the waves glow with flame and light. The day is almost over, and the sun is setting. The sun, large and bright, appears to rest almost upon the waves of the western ocean.

Suddenly, the strange ship appears between the sailors' ship and the setting sun. The ghostly vessel moves quickly into position directly in front of the sun. This positioning blocks the sun's light and creates an ominous shadow.

The setting sun creates a dramatic and supernatural scene. The beauty of the scene is corrupted by something evil. The day is ending, and darkness is coming—a time associated with death and danger. Something terrible is about to appear.

Stanza 9: The sun's light breaks into prison bars

And straight the Sun was flecked with bars, / (Heaven's Mother send us grace!) / As if through a dungeon-grate he peered / With broad and burning face.

When the ghostly ship comes between the sailors and the sun, the sunlight is broken into bars of light, as if the sun is looking through the bars of a prison dungeon window. The narrator calls upon Mary (Heaven's Mother) to send grace and protection.

The sun, which had been bright and large, now appears to be looking through a grate or prison bars with its broad and burning face. The sun becomes a prisoner behind bars, just as the crew is imprisoned by the curse of the albatross.

The approach of the ghostly ship brings darkness and imprisonment, not salvation. What the crew hoped was a rescue ship has turned out to be something supernatural and evil. Even the powerful sun is trapped and helpless.

Stanza 10: The Mariner's growing fear and realization

Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud) / How fast she nears and nears! / Are those her sails that glance in the Sun, / Like restless gossameres?

The Mariner's heart begins to beat loudly in fear as he realizes something is terribly wrong. The ghostly ship is approaching very quickly—it comes nearer and nearer with each moment.

The Mariner asks if the objects that look like sails are really sails. They glance and shine in the sun's light like gossamer—delicate, transparent, and almost unreal. The sails appear to be made of something that is not ordinary cloth. They seem ghostly and supernatural.

The Mariner's loud heartbeat and his fearful exclamation "Alas!" show that his initial hope has turned to terror. He is beginning to understand that this is not a ship that will save them.

Stanza 11: The ship's skeleton appearance is revealed

Are those her ribs through which the Sun / Did peer, as through a grate? / And is that Woman all her crew? / Is that a DEATH? and are there two? / Is DEATH that woman's mate?

The Mariner looks more carefully at the ghostly ship and realizes that what he thought were sails are actually the ship's ribs showing through. The sun shines through these ribs as if looking through the bars of a prison. The ship appears to be a skeleton or a dead thing rather than a living vessel.

The ghostly ship appears to have only one person on it—a woman. All the crew is made up of just this one woman. Yet the Mariner asks, "Is that a DEATH? and are there two?" Beside the woman figure, there appears to be another figure.

The Mariner's realization grows more terrifying with each moment. This is not a normal ship at all. It is a phantom vessel crewed by supernatural beings—perhaps Death itself and another supernatural creature. The ribs of the ship being visible shows that it is not a living thing but something skeletal and dead.

Stanza 12: Life-in-Death is revealed in her terrible beauty

Her lips were red, her looks were free, / Her locks were yellow as gold: / Her skin was as white as leprosy, / The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, / Who thicks man's blood with cold.

The woman on the ghostly ship is described in detail. Her lips are red like blood, and her expression is free and unbounded. Her hair is yellow like gold and beautiful. However, her skin is white as leprosy—a terrible disease that makes skin lose its color and feel like death.

She is revealed to be "the Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH"—a supernatural being that is neither life nor death but something between them. She is a nightmare—a terrifying presence that brings suffering and horror. Her presence "thicks man's blood with cold"—she causes human blood to thicken and slow, bringing coldness and paralysis.

The contrast between her beautiful appearance and her terrible nature shows that evil can hide behind beauty. She is more terrible than Death itself because she does not kill people quickly. Instead, she makes them live in agony and suffering.

Stanza 13: Death and Life-in-Death play dice

The naked hulk alongside came, / And the twain were casting dice; / 'The game is done! I've won! I've won!' / Quoth she, and whistles thrice.

The ghostly ship comes alongside the Mariner's ship, and the Mariner can see the details more clearly. The ship appears to be a naked hulk—a dead, empty shell without sails or rigging. Two figures are on the ghostly ship: Death and Life-in-Death.

These two supernatural beings are casting dice—playing a game to determine the fate of the crew. Life-in-Death has won the dice game. She cries out triumphantly, "The game is done! I've won! I've won!" She whistles three times in celebration of her victory.

Life-in-Death has won the right to claim the souls of the crew members. Instead of being granted the mercy of quick death, the crew will be condemned to live in torment under Life-in-Death's control. The crew's fate is sealed.

Stanza 14: The ghostly ship disappears and darkness falls

The Sun's rim dips; the stars rush out; / At one stride comes the dark; / With far-heard whisper, o'er the sea, / Off shot the spectre-bark.

The moment that Life-in-Death wins the dice game, the sun rapidly sets. The rim of the sun dips below the horizon. Stars suddenly appear in the sky all at once, as if they have been rushing out from hiding. Darkness comes all at once—"at one stride"—covering everything.

The ghostly ship suddenly disappears, shot off into the distance with a whispering sound that can be heard from far away. The spectral ship, the "spectre-bark," rushes away into the darkness.

The rapid descent of darkness and disappearance of the ghostly ship creates a sense of supernatural terror. Everything happens too quickly and too perfectly for coincidence. The crew is left in complete darkness with only the knowledge that Life-in-Death has claimed them.

Stanza 15: The crew's terror, fear, and the strange horned moon

We listened and looked sideways up! / Fear at my heart, as at a cup, / My life-blood seemed to sip! / The stars were dim, and thick the night, / The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white; / From the sails the dew did drip— / Till clomb above the eastern bar / The hornèd Moon, with one bright star / Within the nether tip.

The crew listens and looks around in fear and confusion. The Mariner feels fear entering his heart like something drinking from a cup. His life-blood—the essence of his life—seems to be sipped away by this fear. The stars are dim and difficult to see. The night is thick and heavy.

The sailor who is steering the ship can be seen in the light of his lamp. His face is white—pale with terror. Water drips from the sails—either dew or condensation from the thick night air. This continues until the moon begins to rise above the eastern horizon.

The moon is described as "hornèd"—shaped like horns or a crescent. A single bright star appears within the crescent of the moon, positioned in the lower part of the crescent. The image of the horned moon with the single bright star is strange and ominous. The supernatural and evil forces are now openly active.

Stanza 16: One by one, the crew dies and curses the Mariner

One after one, by the star-dogged Moon, / Too quick for groan or sigh, / Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, / And cursed me with his eye.

Beginning under the strange moon, one by one, the crew members begin to die. The moon is described as "star-dogged"—being followed or tracked by the star. The death happens so quickly that the sailors cannot even groan or sigh before they die.

Each sailor, as he dies, turns his face toward the Mariner with a terrible look of pain and anguish. Each sailor curses the Mariner with his eye before death takes him. The curse in their eyes is permanent—it remains even after death.

The Mariner realizes that he is responsible for all their deaths through his killing of the albatross. Each crew member blames the Mariner with their dying glance. This is a terrible punishment that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Stanza 17: All 200 crew members die in silence

Four times fifty living men, / (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) / With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, / They dropped down one by one.

Two hundred sailors (four times fifty) are on the ship. Each one dies silently—the Mariner hears no sighs or groans as they die. Each body falls with a heavy thump, landing on the deck as a lifeless lump of flesh.

The sailors die one by one, slowly and in silence. The crew has been completely wiped out. Only the Mariner remains alive. The repetition of "one by one" shows the slow, terrible process of watching each crew member die.

The Mariner stands alone surrounded by two hundred dead bodies. He is completely isolated, having witnessed the death of every crew member who served under him. The Mariner's loneliness and his eternal torture have begun.

Stanza 18: The souls flee while the Mariner remains alone

The souls did from their bodies fly,— / They fled to bliss or woe! / And every soul, it passed me by, / Like the whizz of my cross-bow!

The souls of the dead sailors leave their bodies. Some flee to bliss (heaven), while others flee to woe (hell). Each soul passes by the Mariner as it departs to its final destination.

The souls pass the Mariner with a sound like the whizz of a crossbow—the very weapon the Mariner used to kill the albatross. This comparison connects the death of the crew directly to the Mariner's original sin. The souls remind him of his crime.

The Mariner is left completely alone with only the dead bodies of his crew members and the terrible knowledge that he is responsible for their deaths. His punishment and his eternal curse have truly begun.