Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: A Creation of Frozen Artistic Beauty

Abstract

This paper aims at investigating Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ from an artistic approach. Coleridge used this poem to prove himself as an artist, among his contemporaries, who is capable of creating
 a beautiful work of art. This poem has undergone controversy ever since its publication, as it received little appreciation from its audience because of the themes it tackles, the archaic language that Coleridge used, and his writing style compared to other poets at that time. Some readers and critics questioned even Coleridge’s ability of versification; however, others praised the poem as a hallmark of Coleridge’s creativity. Thus, this paper attempts to verify that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an art gallery of frozen images made alive to put Coleridge in the forefront of his contemporaries and to be eternally thought of as an artist whose imaginative power to create makes him among the great.