The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Part 7 Summary

Stanza 1: Introduction to the good Hermit who lives in the forest

This Hermit good lives in that wood / Which slopes down to the sea. / How loudly his sweet voice he rears! / He loves to talk with marineres / That come from a far countree.

The narration introduces the Hermit, a good and holy man who lives in a forest that slopes down toward the sea. The Hermit has a sweet voice that he raises loudly in song and prayer.

The Hermit loves to speak with sailors who return from distant countries and have traveled far from home. He enjoys hearing stories of their voyages and learning about foreign lands. The Hermit represents spiritual guidance and the connection between land and sea.

Stanza 2: The Hermit prays three times daily on moss-covered cushion

He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve— / He hath a cushion plump: / It is the moss that wholly hides / The rotted old oak-stump.

The Hermit is a man of deep prayer and devotion. He kneels to pray three times each day—in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. He has a cushion to kneel upon.

This cushion is not a comfortable, man-made object but is actually made of soft moss. The moss covers and hides the rotted remains of an old oak tree stump, suggesting that the Hermit finds simple, natural comfort in the forest. He lives in harmony with nature.

Stanza 3: The skiff-boat nears; sailors wonder about the lights

The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk, / 'Why, this is strange, I trow! / Where are those lights so many and fair, / That signal made but now?'

The Hermit's small boat (a skiff-boat) approaches the Mariner's ship. The people in the boat begin to speak with confusion and amazement. They wonder about the beautiful lights they saw earlier.

The sailors are asking each other where the lights that were signaling have gone. The lights—created by the angels (seraphs)—have disappeared. The sailors witnessed something supernatural but do not understand what it was.

Stanza 4: The Hermit describes the ship's warped planks and thin sails

'Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said— / 'And they answered not our cheer! / The planks looked warped! and see those sails, / How thin they are and sere! / I never saw aught like to them, / Unless perchance it were'

The Hermit responds to the others' wonder. He swears by his faith that something is very strange. The ship did not answer their greeting or cheer—it remained silent and unresponsive.

The Hermit observes that the ship's wooden planks appear warped and damaged. The sails are extremely thin and dry (sere). The Hermit has never seen a ship in such a condition before. He is troubled by the ship's strange appearance.

Stanza 5: Sails compared to dead leaves; dark forest imagery

Brown skeletons of leaves that lag / My forest-brook along; / When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow, / And the owlet whoops to the wolf below, / That eats the she-wolf's young.

The Hermit compares the ship's sails to brown skeletons of dead leaves floating in a forest stream. The comparison suggests that the ship looks dead and lifeless.

He paints a picture of a dark winter forest scene where ivy is heavy with snow and owls hoot to wolves below. The wolves are predators eating the young of she-wolves. This dark, dangerous imagery mirrors the Mariner's cursed and haunted ship.

Stanza 6: Pilot fears the ship's fiendish look; Hermit encourages pushing on

'Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look— / (The Pilot made reply) / I am a-feared'—'Push on, push on!' / Said the Hermit cheerily.

The Pilot who is steering the boat exclaims that the ship has a fiendish (evil, demonic) appearance. He confesses that he is afraid of the strange, ghostly vessel.

The Hermit responds cheerfully and encourages them to continue pushing the boat forward toward the ship. Despite the frightening appearance, the Hermit remains calm and faithful, showing his spiritual strength and trust in divine protection.

Stanza 7: Boat approaches ship; Mariner silent; strange sound heard

The boat came closer to the ship, / But I nor spake nor stirred; / The boat came close beneath the ship, / And straight a sound was heard.

The boat continues to approach the Mariner's ship. The Mariner, standing on the deck, does not speak or move. He remains completely silent and still.

When the boat comes directly beneath the ship, a sound suddenly occurs—a strange, powerful sound that comes from beneath the water. The sound is ominous and unexpected.

Stanza 8: Terrible sound; ship sinks like lead into the sea

Under the water it rumbled on, / Still louder and more dread: / It reached the ship, it split the bay; / The ship went down like lead.

A terrible sound rumbles beneath the water, growing louder and more fearful with each moment. The sound reaches the ship and causes a massive split or rupture.

The entire bay shakes with the force of the sound and movement. The Mariner's ship, which has carried him through all his supernatural trials and trials, suddenly sinks rapidly into the sea like a piece of lead—heavy and fast, completely submerged.

Stanza 9: Mariner stunned and floating; mysteriously appears in Pilot's boat

Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound, / Which sky and ocean smote, / Like one that hath been seven days drowned / My body lay afloat; / But swift as dreams, myself I found / Within the Pilot's boat.

The Mariner is knocked unconscious by the loud, dreadful sound that strikes both the sky and ocean. His body floats on the water like that of a person who has been drowned for seven days—lifeless and helpless.

Yet suddenly and mysteriously, as if in a dream, the Mariner finds himself in the Pilot's boat. He has been transported from his sinking ship to safety without knowing how this happened. Divine forces have saved him.

Stanza 10: Whirlpool where ship sank; hill echoes the sound

Upon the whirl, where sank the ship, / The boat spun round and round; / And all was still, save that the hill / Was telling of the sound.

Where the ship sank, the water creates a whirlpool or vortex that causes the boat to spin around and around. The ocean becomes chaotic and violent from the sinking of the cursed vessel.

Eventually all becomes still again. The only sound remaining is the echo of the terrible noise bouncing off the nearby hill. The hill seems to be telling the story of what has happened.

Stanza 11: Mariner speaks; Pilot shrieks and falls; Hermit prays

I moved my lips—the Pilot shrieked / And fell down in a fit; / The holy Hermit raised his eyes, / And prayed where he did sit.

When the Mariner tries to speak by moving his lips, the Pilot is terrified. The Pilot shrieks in fear and falls down in a fit (loss of consciousness or violent reaction).

The Hermit, seeing this happen, raises his eyes to heaven and prays where he sits in the boat. The Hermit recognizes that something supernatural and holy is occurring and turns to prayer for guidance and protection.

Stanza 12: Pilot's boy goes mad with laughter; thinks Devil rows

I took the oars: the Pilot's boy, / Who now doth crazy go, / Laughed loud and long, and all the while / His eyes went to and fro. / 'Ha! ha!' quoth he, 'full plain I see, / The Devil knows how to row.'

The Mariner takes the oars and begins to row the boat. The Pilot's boy (a young man) has gone completely mad from fear and shock. He laughs loudly and continuously in his insanity.

The boy's eyes move back and forth wildly. He exclaims in laughter, "Ha! ha! I can clearly see the Devil knows how to row!" The boy believes the Mariner is the Devil himself, rowing the boat with supernatural power. The boy's madness shows the psychological impact of the supernatural events.

Stanza 13: Mariner reaches his own country; Hermit can scarcely stand

And now, all in my own countree, / I stood on the firm land! / The Hermit stepped forth from the boat, / And scarcely he could stand.

The boat reaches the Mariner's own country, and he steps out onto firm land for the first time in his long, terrible journey. He is finally home.

The Hermit also steps out of the boat, but he can scarcely stand. The shock and spiritual weight of what he has witnessed has weakened him. He is overwhelmed by the supernatural events.

Stanza 14: Mariner begs for absolution; Hermit asks what manner of man he is

'O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!' / The Hermit crossed his brow. / 'Say quick,' quoth he, 'I bid thee say— / What manner of man art thou?'

The Mariner immediately cries out to the Hermit, begging him to absolve his sins (shrieve). The Hermit crosses himself, making the sign of the cross for protection.

The Hermit asks the Mariner a direct question: "What kind of man are you?" The Hermit senses that the Mariner is not an ordinary human being and wants to understand what supernatural force or being he is dealing with.

Stanza 15: Mariner seized with agony; forced to tell his tale

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched / With a woful agony, / Which forced me to begin my tale; / And then it left me free.

Immediately after the Hermit asks his question, the Mariner's body is seized with painful agony. This terrible pain forces him to begin telling his story to the Hermit.

The Mariner is compelled by supernatural forces to confess and tell his tale. Once he begins speaking and explaining what happened, the pain leaves him and he is temporarily freed from the agony. The pain returns whenever he fails to tell his story.

Stanza 16: Agony returns at uncertain hours until tale is told

Since then, at an uncertain hour, / That agony returns: / And till my ghastly tale is told, / This heart within me burns.

Since that moment with the Hermit, the Mariner experiences agony at uncertain, unpredictable times. This pain comes without warning, whenever the Mariner encounters people who should hear his story.

The pain in his heart burns intensely until the Mariner tells his tale to whoever he meets. The only relief from the burning agony is to share his story and teach others about the consequences of cruelty to innocent creatures.

Stanza 17: Mariner passes like night from land to land; knows who must hear

I pass, like night, from land to land; / I have strange power of speech; / That moment that his face I see, / I know the man that must hear me: / To him my tale I teach.

The Mariner wanders from land to land, traveling like the night moving across the earth. He possesses a strange and supernatural power of speech that allows him to captivate and control listeners.

The moment the Mariner sees someone's face, he instantly knows whether this person needs to hear his tale. He recognizes the right person, and he teaches them his story. He has become an eternal wanderer and teacher.

Stanza 18: Return to frame story; wedding celebration continues

What loud uproar bursts from that door! / The wedding-guests are there: / But in the garden-bower the bride / And bride-maids singing are: / And hark the little vesper bell, / Which biddeth me to prayer!

The narration returns to the frame story. Loud noise and commotion burst from the door of the wedding hall where the guests have gathered. Inside, people are celebrating the wedding.

Meanwhile, in a separate garden area, the bride and her bridesmaids sing happily. A small bell rings for evening prayers (vesper), calling people to prayer. The wedding celebration and religious life of the community continue, but the Mariner's story has interrupted them.

Stanza 19: Mariner's soul was so lonely God seemed absent

O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been / Alone on a wide wide sea: / So lonely 'twas, that God himself / Scarce seemèd there to be.

The Mariner directly addresses the Wedding Guest, reminding him of the terrible loneliness he experienced. The Mariner's soul was alone on the vast ocean with no human companionship.

This loneliness was so complete and overwhelming that it seemed even God had abandoned him. The Mariner felt forsaken by both humanity and the divine. This spiritual desolation was perhaps worse than the physical sufferings.

Stanza 20: Walking to church with good company sweeter than feast

O sweeter than the marriage-feast, / 'Tis sweeter far to me, / To walk together to the kirk / With a goodly company!

The Mariner reflects that the simple act of walking together with other people to the church is sweeter to him than any marriage feast or celebration. Community and companionship are far more precious than luxurious celebrations.

The Mariner has learned that being with good, caring people is the greatest happiness. After his isolation and suffering, he now values human connection and community more than anything else.

Stanza 21: Walking and praying together in community with all people

To walk together to the kirk, / And all together pray, / While each to his great Father bends, / Old men, and babes, and loving friends / And youths and maidens gay!

The Mariner finds joy in the image of people walking together to church and praying together as a community. All kinds of people—old men, infants, friends, young men and women—join together in prayer.

This unified prayer of a community, with everyone bending toward God together, represents the spiritual communion and connection that the Mariner desperately needed. Everyone, regardless of age or station, prays together to their Father in heaven.

Stanza 22: First moral lesson: He who loves well prays well

Farewell, farewell! but this I tell / To thee, thou Wedding-Guest! / He prayeth well, who loveth well / Both man and bird and beast.

The Mariner says farewell to the Wedding Guest, but before he leaves, he shares the most important lesson from his experience. The Mariner teaches that the best prayer comes from a heart that loves well.

To pray well, one must love both people and animals, both humans and creatures. Love must extend to all living things.

Stanza 23: Final lesson: Love all great and small; God made and loves all

He prayeth best, who loveth best / All things both great and small; / For the dear God who loveth us, / He made and loveth all.

The Mariner repeats and emphasizes the central moral lesson of his entire experience. The person who prays the best is the one who loves the most—and this love must include all creatures, whether great or small.

The reason for this truth is that God, whom we pray to, loves us and made all creatures. Since God created and loves everything, we should also love all of God's creation. The lesson is rooted in understanding God's universal love.

Stanza 24: Mariner departs; Wedding Guest turns from bridegroom's door

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.

The narration describes the Mariner leaving. He has bright, glittering eyes and a white (hoar) beard from age. The Mariner departs into the world to continue his eternal wandering and storytelling.

The Wedding Guest turns away from the wedding ceremony and the bridegroom's door. He no longer wishes to attend the celebration. The Mariner's story has completely changed his priorities and understanding.

Stanza 25: Wedding Guest a sadder and wiser man the next morning

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 leaves in a dazed state, as if stunned by a blow. He has lost some of his previous innocence and lightheartedness. He seems separated from his former understanding of life.

The next morning, the Wedding Guest is both sadder and wiser than he was before. He has learned the importance of loving all creatures, the consequences of cruelty, the power of redemption, and the preciousness of community and prayer. Though sadder, he is far wiser.