The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

POSTED BY: MalsNara
UPDATED: Thursday, April 5, 2007 10:09
VIEWED: 6609
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MALSNARA

Saturday, March 31, 2007 3:22 PM

This the poem that Mal talks about in Serenity when The Operative calls River an albatross. Thought ya'll might wanna take a look. Any thoughts on why Joss used it?

P.S It's very long
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It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?

The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin;
The guests are met, the feast is set:
Mayst hear the merry din.'

He holds him with his skinny hand,
"There was a ship," quoth he.
'Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!'
Eftsoons his hand dropped he.

He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years' child:
The Mariner hath his will.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

"The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.

The sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.

Higher and higher every day,
Till over the mast at noon—"
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon.

The bride hath paced into the hall,
Red as a rose is she;
Nodding their heads before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.

The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

"And now the storm-blast came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong:
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,
And chased us south along.

With sloping masts and dipping prow,
As who pursued with yell and blow
Still treads the shadow of his foe,
And foward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,
And southward aye we fled.

And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.

And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—
The ice was all between.

The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!

At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.

It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!

And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo!

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine;
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white moonshine."

'God save thee, ancient Mariner,
From the fiends that plague thee thus!—
Why look'st thou so?'—"With my crossbow
I shot the Albatross."

Part II

"The sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.

And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariners' hollo!

And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!

Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
The glorious sun uprist:
Then all averred, I had killed the bird
That brought the fog and mist.
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
That bring the fog and mist.

The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.

Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!

All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.

PLATONIST

Saturday, March 31, 2007 4:18 PM

A story to tell (Miranda), an albatross (River, is she good or bad luck?), a mariner (Mal), the wedding guests (viewers)...so many analogies, plus the poem is from the Romantic Period of literature (Josh draws his writing style from this period with Shakespearean sprinkles (the Tempest and the St. Crispin's Day soliloguy, Mal delivers)

By the way, River's, "please make me stone", is from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Hugo, 1823), the same period of time.

MALSNARA

Saturday, March 31, 2007 4:19 PM

Thanks, I didn't know that last bit and the others parts I agree with too.

"some people juggle geese"

THOLO

Saturday, March 31, 2007 5:13 PM

Iron Maiden wrote a song called The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, based on the poem.

It's 13 minutes long and on the Powerslave album.

Give it a listen.

Keep Flying!!
Tholo

GLADIATOR32

Saturday, March 31, 2007 5:27 PM

And a belter of a tune it is, too. The mid section of that song is one of the most powerful things ever recorded

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www.myspace.com/32dan32

WANDERINGFOOL

Saturday, March 31, 2007 5:47 PM

Yes that is a great song!!!! by a great band!!!

good poem too

TURNIPYODOUR

Saturday, March 31, 2007 7:27 PM

I think we need a link so that people can experience this song in all its glory. Be prepared for an 11 minute Maiden masterpiece:

Part 1

Part 2

From the Iron Maiden video 'Live After Death' filmed live in concert at Long Beach Arena 1985.

Up the irons!!!

RHYIANAN

Saturday, March 31, 2007 8:21 PM

Hmm, maybe watching this will stop me from reading this poem to the tune of gilligan's island. Darn literature teacher for pointing out that it fits the tune (which is also the way she told us to test if a particular poem is a ballad or not).

I'm a leaf on the wind

ZOID

Sunday, April 1, 2007 6:14 AM

Mal's 'Nara:

I don't think there was any deep hidden meaning in Joss' allusion to The Rime. The Op called River an albatross -- a bringer of bad luck and disaster -- and Mal pointed out that the albatross was actually considered good luck. The albatross only brings bad luck if you kill it (and by extension, the good luck it brings).

Not exactly a throw-away exchange of lines, by any means; but, not filled with deeper significance, either. It's possible to read too much into the writer's intentions...

On the positive side, another writer may have used a hackneyed old cliche ("You can have the girl when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of her."). Joss' true gift is the ingenuity he instills in even his throw-away lines.

Considerately,

zoid

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"So the question you've got to be asking yourself, Mr. ... um... Operative, is 'was that five ident beacons or six?' Well? Do you feel lucky?" -Capt. Mal Reynolds, (sorta) Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'

CYBERSNARK

Sunday, April 1, 2007 3:26 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
On the positive side, another writer may have used a hackneyed old cliche ("You can have the girl when you pry my cold, dead fingers off of her.").

Actually, that still would've been a pretty funny Mal-ism, just for a different reason.

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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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