My initial blog is a poem about a poem, one that may appeal to poetry lovers that enjoy 18th century English poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s classic ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.
By way of background, I read this poem out loud (with emphasis) to my four children just prior to embarking on a multi-day business trip to Colorado in 1997.
My eldest, who at the time was thirteen, asked that I write a poem that explained all that she had just heard. I did so in the airport on the way out, and you have before you my attempt at capturing the major themes of Coleridge’s masterpiece.
I’ve since had the privilege of reading both poems to my three grandchildren. Their mother, of course, is Liz.
a rhyme about the Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Now there’s an epic poem
Written in the year of our Lord, 1797,
It should be read out loud, at home.
The old sailor’s tale, it must be told
To whoever will pause and listen
Once started, you dare not stop
As the hearer’s eyes get large and glisten
The sailor was handsome and few in years
When on a long voyage, he made a mistake
That he would regret with many a tear
The crossbow’s arrow did seal his fate
Oh why did he target the dear sweet bird?
Why did the trigger he pull?
The decisions made that fateful hour
Could not he imagine the forces unfurled?
His shipmates eventually figured out
Why the vessel’s forward motion did cease
It was the sailor’s arrow the fowl’s heart did pierce
And from his neck, they removed the
Cross Replacing it with the Albatross
Even though it was deceased.
Day after day, the ship did stay
At that hot and accursed location
Throats parched and swollen without recourse
Atop the world’s largest Ocean
The horrible irony of it all,
caused the sailor to think
“Water, water everywhere
Nor any drop to drink”
The last survivor, why he was brought home alive
Was evidence of a great purpose
The Mariner too late learned,
as his heart was remorseful and turned
The love of the Creator for all His creatures
“He prayeth best, who lovest best
All things both great and small
For the dear God who loveth us
He made and loveth all”
The tortured sailor is no longer around
He has gone on to a destiny much fairer
His tale survives, with much fury and sound
As kindred souls do recite the poem
Called “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Originally written October 9, 1997