The Rime of the Ancient Mariner stage of the mariner's curse is lifted after he appreciates the sea creatures swimming in the water. Despite his cursing them as "slimy things" earlier in the poem, he suddenly sees their true beauty and blesses them ("a spring of love gush'd from my heart, and I bless'd them unaware"); suddenly, as he manages to pray, the albatross falls from his neck and his guilt is partially expiated. The bodies of the crew, possessed by good spirits, rise again and help steer the ship. In a trance, the mariner hears two spirits discussing his voyage and penance, and learns that
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner The Rime of the Ancient Mariner The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (originally The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere) is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and published in 1798 in the first edition of "Lyrical Ballads". Some modern editions use a revised version printed in 1817 that featured a gloss. Along with other poems in "Lyrical Ballads", it is often considered a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a