The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Part 5 Summary

Stanza 1: Praise for gentle sleep and Mary Queen's mercy

Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing, / Beloved from pole to pole! / To Mary Queen the praise be given! / She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven, / That slid into my soul.

The Mariner awakens and suddenly becomes aware of the blessing of sleep. He praises sleep as something gentle and wonderful that is loved and needed by all people everywhere, from the North Pole to the South Pole.

The Mariner credits Mary Queen (the Virgin Mary) with sending him this gentle sleep from Heaven. This divine sleep has entered his soul peacefully, bringing him relief and healing. After his terrible suffering and agony, sleep becomes a blessed escape and a sign of God's mercy.

Stanza 2: The dream of buckets filled with dew; miraculous rain

The silly buckets on the deck, / That had so long remained, / I dreamt that they were filled with dew; / And when I awoke, it rained.

During his sleep, the Mariner dreams about the buckets left on the ship's deck. In his dream, these buckets, which had been empty for so long, become filled with fresh dew water. The dream brings him hope and comfort.

When the Mariner awakens from this dream, something miraculous happens: it actually begins to rain! The dream has become reality. Fresh water from heaven falls on the ship, ending the terrible curse of thirst.

Stanza 3: Rain ends the thirst; body continues to drink

My lips were wet, my throat was cold, / My garments all were dank; / Sure I had drunken in my dreams, / And still my body drank.

The Mariner's lips become wet from the rain, and his throat receives the cool relief of water. His clothes become soaked and damp from the rainfall.

He believes he must have drunk water in his dreams because his lips and mouth are now wet. Even after waking, his body continues to drink the life-giving rain that falls from the sky. The rain represents divine mercy and healing after his terrible suffering.

Stanza 4: Mariner feels weightless, thinks he is a blessed ghost

I moved, and could not feel my limbs: / I was so light—almost / I thought that I had died in sleep, / And was a blessed ghost.

When the Mariner tries to move his body, he finds that he cannot feel his limbs. His body feels so light and weightless that it seems almost unreal. He wonders if he has died while sleeping.

The Mariner thinks he might be a blessed ghost or spirit rather than a living human. This feeling of being neither living nor dead represents his spiritual transformation and his separation from his ordinary human existence. He has been reborn through suffering and redemption.

Stanza 5: Powerful roaring wind shakes the thin sails

And soon I heard a roaring wind: / It did not come anear; / But with its sound it shook the sails, / That were so thin and sere.

A powerful wind suddenly begins to roar around the ship. The wind does not come close to the ship, but its sound carries to the Mariner.

This wind shakes the ship's sails, which are old, thin, and dry from the long voyage and curse. The return of wind represents the breaking of the curse and the beginning of the ship's journey home.

Stanza 6: Fire-flags shine in upper air; stars dance

The upper air burst into life! / And a hundred fire-flags sheen, / To and fro they were hurried about! / And to and fro, and in and out, / The wan stars danced between.

The sky suddenly becomes alive with activity and light. Fire-flags appear and shine in the upper air—these are supernatural lights or phenomena, possibly the northern lights or aurora.

These fire-flags move rapidly back and forth. The pale stars also appear to dance between the moving lights. The sky becomes a spectacular display of supernatural beauty and activity, suggesting that supernatural forces are working to restore the Mariner to his homeland.

Stanza 7: Wind roars, rain falls, moon at cloud's edge

And the coming wind did roar more loud, / And the sails did sigh like sedge, / And the rain poured down from one black cloud; / The Moon was at its edge.

The wind grows louder and more powerful. The sails make a sighing sound like sedge (a type of water plant). Heavy rain pours down from a single black cloud in the sky.

The moon appears at the edge of the black cloud, partially hidden but still visible. The combination of wind, rain, and the moon's presence suggests a transition from darkness and curse to light and redemption.

Stanza 8: Cloud splits, lightning falls like a river

The thick black cloud was cleft, and still / The Moon was at its side: / Like waters shot from some high crag, / The lightning fell with never a jag, / A river steep and wide.

The black cloud splits and separates. The moon remains visible at the edge of the cloud. Lightning appears and falls from the sky like a river of water flowing down from a high cliff.

The lightning is described as falling smoothly without jagging or breaking—a smooth, steady descent. The image compares the lightning to a steep, powerful river of water falling from great height. This represents the powerful supernatural forces at work in nature, all contributing to the Mariner's salvation.

Stanza 9: Wind doesn't reach ship but ship moves; dead men groan

The loud wind never reached the ship, / Yet now the ship moved on! / Beneath the lightning and the Moon / The dead men gave a groan.

Something miraculous happens: despite the powerful wind roaring all around, it does not actually reach the ship itself. Yet the ship begins to move forward through the water.

Beneath the light of the lightning and the moon, the dead bodies of the crew members make a groaning sound. Something is causing them to move and make noise, even though they are dead.

Stanza 10: Dead men rise, groan, stir, but don't speak

They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose, / Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; / It had been strange, even in a dream, / To have seen those dead men rise.

The dead crew members groan, stir, and rise up from where their bodies lay. They stand up together, but they do not speak and do not move their eyes.

The Mariner observes that this scene would be strange and frightening even in a dream. Yet it is happening in reality. The dead men are being reanimated by supernatural forces, but they remain silent and empty-eyed, more like puppets than living people.

Stanza 11: Dead men work the ropes mechanically; ghastly crew

The helmsman steered, the ship moved on; / Yet never a breeze up-blew; / The mariners all 'gan work the ropes, / Where they were wont to do; / They raised their limbs like lifeless tools— / We were a ghastly crew.

The man steering the ship (the helmsman) continues his task, and the ship moves forward. Yet there is still no wind to push it. All the sailors begin to work the ship's ropes, moving and pulling them as they did when they were alive.

However, the sailors' movements are mechanical and lifeless. They raise their limbs like tools with no will of their own. The Mariner and the reanimated crew form a ghastly, terrible sight—a ship manned by the dead, moving through supernatural means toward land.

Stanza 12: Mariner's nephew's body stands beside him, says nothing

The body of my brother's son / Stood by me, knee to knee: / The body and I pulled at one rope, / But he said nought to me.

The Mariner discovers that one of the reanimated corpses is his own nephew—his brother's son. This person stands beside the Mariner, their knees nearly touching.

The Mariner and this body work together, pulling the same rope. However, the dead nephew says nothing to the Mariner. There is no communication, no recognition, no warmth. The reanimated dead are completely silent and empty, moving only as supernatural puppets.

Stanza 13: Wedding Guest fears; Mariner explains blessed spirits inhabit bodies

'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!' / Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest! / 'Twas not those souls that fled in pain, / Which to their corses came again, / But a troop of spirits blest:

The Wedding Guest becomes frightened again at this description of the dead men rising. He asks the Mariner to explain what is happening. The Mariner reassures him.

The Mariner explains that the souls of the dead sailors did not return to their dead bodies. Instead, a troop of blessed spirits—angelic beings—came and inhabited the bodies, causing them to move and work the ship.

Stanza 14: At dawn, spirits release bodies; sweet sounds rise

For when it dawned—they dropped their arms, / And clustered round the mast; / Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, / And from their bodies passed.

When dawn arrives, the spirits controlling the dead bodies release them. The dead bodies drop their arms and gather together around the ship's mast.

Sweet, beautiful sounds rise slowly from the mouths of the dead bodies. These are not ordinary words or language but rather heavenly music and singing. The sounds rise from the bodies and then pass away into the air.

Stanza 15: Sounds fly around, dart to sun, return mixed or alone

Around, around, flew each sweet sound, / Then darted to the Sun; / Slowly the sounds came back again, / Now mixed, now one by one.

Each sweet sound flies around the ship in circles. Then the sounds dart upward toward the sun. After a time, the sounds slowly return from the direction of the sun.

The returning sounds are mixed together or come back one at a time individually. The sounds represent the spirits' journey to heaven and their return, symbolizing the ascension of the blessed spirits to God's throne.

Stanza 16: Sounds become bird songs, larks, sweet jargoning

Sometimes a-dropping from the sky / I heard the sky-lark sing; / Sometimes all little birds that are, / How they seemed to fill the sea and air / With their sweet jargoning!

The beautiful sounds transform into the singing of larks and other birds dropping from the sky. The Mariner hears the distinctive song of the sky-lark.

Sometimes it seems as if all the little birds in the world are singing together. They fill both the sea and the air with their sweet sounds and joyful chatter. These natural sounds of birds represent nature's blessing and beauty returning to the world.

Stanza 17: Sounds transform to instruments, flute, angel's song

And now 'twas like all instruments, / Now like a lonely flute; / And now it is an angel's song, / That makes the heavens be mute.

The sounds continue to transform and change. Sometimes they sound like many musical instruments playing together. Sometimes they sound like a single, lonely flute playing by itself.

Sometimes the sounds become like the song of an angel, so beautiful and perfect that even heaven becomes silent to listen. The sounds represent the connection between the earthly and heavenly worlds, showing that the Mariner is being guided by divine forces.

Stanza 18: Music ceases; sails make pleasant noise like hidden brook

It ceased; yet still the sails made on / A pleasant noise till noon, / A noise like of a hidden brook / In the leafy month of June, / That to the sleeping woods all night / Singeth a quiet tune.

The heavenly music ceases, but the sails continue to make pleasant sounds throughout the day until noon. The sails make a noise like a hidden stream flowing through the woods.

The sound is like a quiet, gentle tune sung at night to the sleeping woods in June. This natural sound represents peace, beauty, and the return of normal nature. The transformation from supernatural music to natural sound suggests the transition from supernatural forces to normal sailing.

Stanza 19: Ship sails smoothly without wind, moved from beneath

Till noon we quietly sailed on, / Yet never a breeze did breathe: / Slowly and smoothly went the ship, / Moved onward from beneath.

The ship continues to sail peacefully until noon. Despite no wind blowing, the ship moves slowly and smoothly through the water. The ship is propelled from below the water's surface.

Something beneath the ship—a spirit or supernatural force—is pushing the ship forward. The ship moves without wind or visible means, guided by divine or supernatural power toward the Mariner's homeland.

Stanza 20: Spirit from mist and snow pushes ship; sails stop at noon

Under the keel nine fathom deep, / From the land of mist and snow, / The spirit slid: and it was he / That made the ship to go. / The sails at noon left off their tune, / And the ship stood still also.

Nine fathoms deep beneath the keel of the ship, a spirit from the land of mist and snow (the Antarctic region) moves beneath the water. This is the spirit that has been making the ship move forward.

At noon, the sails stop making their pleasant sounds. At the same moment, the ship also stops moving. The spirit and the ship's motion cease together, showing their connection.

Stanza 21: Sun fixes ship to ocean; ship suddenly moves backward and forward

The Sun, right up above the mast, / Had fixed her to the ocean: / But in a minute she 'gan stir, / With a short uneasy motion— / Backwards and forwards half her length / With a short uneasy motion.

The sun, directly overhead, appears to hold the ship fixed in position on the ocean. The ship becomes still and appears to be attached or held to the water.

But within a minute, the ship begins to stir and move again. It moves backward and forward with a short, jerky motion, as if testing whether it can move. The ship rocks back and forth half its own length.

Stanza 22: Ship bounds forward violently; Mariner falls in swoon

Then like a pawing horse let go, / She made a sudden bound: / It flung the blood into my head, / And I fell down in a swound.

The ship suddenly moves forward with great speed, like a horse that has been released and immediately begins to run and paw at the ground. The ship makes a sudden, powerful movement forward.

This sudden motion is so violent that it causes the blood to rush into the Mariner's head. He loses consciousness and falls down in a swoon (loss of consciousness). The violence of the ship's movement overwhelms his body and mind.

Stanza 23: Mariner unconscious; hears two voices before full awakening

How long in that same fit I lay, / I have not to declare; / But ere my living life returned, / I heard and in my soul discerned / Two voices in the air.

The Mariner does not know how long he remained unconscious in this state. He cannot measure or explain the length of his unconsciousness.

Before his consciousness fully returns to him, the Mariner hears two voices speaking in the air around him. He perceives and understands these voices in his soul, even though he is not yet fully awake or aware.

Stanza 24: First voice accuses: "Is this the man with cruel bow?"

'Is it he?' quoth one, 'Is this the man? / By him who died on cross, / With his cruel bow he laid full low / The harmless Albatross.'

One voice asks if this is the man they have been talking about. The speaker swears by Christ (him who died on cross) and identifies the man as the one with the cruel bow.

This voice recalls the Mariner's sin: he shot the harmless albatross with his crossbow. The voice seems to be accusing him or recognizing his guilt. This voice is likely that of a spirit commenting on the Mariner's crime.

Stanza 25: First voice explains the spirit loved the albatross the Mariner killed

The spirit who bideth by himself / In the land of mist and snow, / He loved the bird that loved the man / Who shot him with his bow.

The first voice explains that a spirit who lives alone in the icy Antarctic region (land of mist and snow) loved the albatross. The albatross, in turn, loved the man who shot it.

This reveals that the albatross belonged to a spirit—the spirit that has been helping the Mariner. Despite the Mariner killing the bird, the spirit loved the albatross and shows mercy to the Mariner.

Stanza 26: Second soft voice says Mariner has done penance and will do more

The other was a softer voice, / As soft as honey-dew: / Quoth he, 'The man hath penance done, / And penance more will do.'

A second voice speaks, and it is softer and gentler than the first. This voice is described as soft as honey-dew, suggesting kindness and mercy.

This gentle voice declares that the man (the Mariner) has already done penance for his sins and will do more penance. The voice suggests hope and forgiveness, indicating that the Mariner's suffering will lead to his redemption and will continue to teach him and others.