Sonnet- A Brief History of Its Journey



The Sonnet as a literary form, inferior to none in variety or extent, is superior to many in nobility of thought, in sanctity of spirit and in generality of comprehension. In beauty or prolixity, it can vie with any other literary genre ancient and modern. Despite of the various experimentation, internal and external, Sonnet had to encounter ever since the dawn of its birth, she has successfully held up to the world her archaic literary beauty.

Sonnet, derived from the Italian word ‘Sonneto’ meaning a little sound or strain, is a lyric poem of 14 lines with a formal rhyme scheme, expressing different aspects of a single thought, mood, or feeling, sometimes resolved or summed up in the last lines of the poem. Originally short poems accompanied by mandolin or lute music, sonnets are generally composed in the standard meter of the language in which they were written—for example, iambic pentameter in English, and the Alexandrine in French. Such outburst of lyricism in English literature is shared by almost all the poets of the literary period including Sir Philip Sidney, Spenser ,Shakespeare Henry constable, Samuel Daniel, Michael Drayton, Robert Browning, Matthew Arnold, Christina Georgina Rossetti, and Gerard Manley Hopkins ,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow etc.


The two main forms of the sonnet are the Petrarchan, or Italian, and the English, or Shakespearean. The former probably developed from the stanza form of the canzone or from Italian folk song. The earliest known Italian sonneteer was Guittone d'Arezzo. The form reached its peak with the Italian poet Petrarch, who’s Canzoniere (about 1327) includes 317 sonnets addressed to his beloved Laura.


The Petrarchan sonnet consists of an octave, or eight-line stanza, and a sestet, or six-line stanza. The octave has two quatrains, rhyming a b b a, a b b a, but avoiding a couplet; the first quatrain presents the theme, the second develops it. The sestet is built on two or three different rhymes, arranged c d e c d e, or c d c d c d, or c d e d c e; the first three lines exemplify or reflect on the theme, and the last three lines bring the whole poem to a unified close. Excellent examples of the Petrarchan sonnet in the English language are found in the sonnet sequence Astrophel and Stella (1591) by Sir Philip Sidney, which established the form in England. There, in the Elizabethan age, it reached the peak of its popularity. Let’s see a Petrarchan sonnet model:

H.W. Longfellow's

Nature

As a fond mother, when the day is o'er,   (a)
Leads by the hand her little child to bed,  (b)
Half willing, half reluctant to be led,  (b)
And leave his broken playthings on the floor,  (a)
Still gazing at them through the open door,  (a)
Nor wholly reassured and comforted  (b)
By promises of others in their stead,   (b)
Which, though more splendid, may not please him more;   (a)

So Nature deals with us, and takes away   (c)
Our playthings one by one, and by the hand   (d)
Leads us to rest so gently, that we go   (c)
Scarce knowing if we wish to go or stay,   (c)
Being too full of sleep to understand    (d)
How far the unknown transcends the what we know.  (c)


The English sonnet, exemplified by the work of William Shakespeare and by Amoretti (1595) by Edmund Spenser, developed as an adaptation to a language less rich in rhymes than Italian. This form differs from the Petrarchan sonnet in being divided into three quatrains, each rhymed differently, and with a final, independently rhymed couplet that makes an effective, unifying climax to the whole. The rhyme scheme is a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g. Let’s see a Shakespearean sonnet model:

SONNET 130
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; (a)
Coral is far more red than her lips' red; (b)
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; (a)
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. (b)


I have seen roses damask'd, red and white, (c)
But no such roses see I in her cheeks; (d)
And in some perfumes is there more delight(c)
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks. (d)


I love to hear her speak, yet well I know(e)
That music hath a far more pleasing sound; (f)
I grant I never saw a goddess go; (e)
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground: (f)


   And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare(g)
   As any she belied with false compare. (g)



 In the first half of the 16th century the sonnet was introduced in England by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey. Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, are credited with introducing the sonnet into England with translations of Italian sonnets as well as with sonnets of their own. Tottel's Miscellany of Songs and Sonnets,a collection of their sonnets, is one of the landmarks of English literature. It begins lyrical love poetry in our language. It begins, too, the imitation and adaptation of foreign and chiefly Italian metrical forms, many of which have since become characteristic forms of English verse : so characteristic, that we scarcely think of them as other than native in origin. However, in the Tudor court of England there the sonnet came through them with slight variation from Italian models. Wyatt’s sonnets all ended with a couplet and surrey by offer some experiments, used a pattern of alternately rhymed quatrains, which encouraged logical exposition right up to this final couplet and postponed the turn. However, Wyatt’s sonnets are rigid and awkward, whereas surrey’s have great artistic merits.

 Firstly Sir Philip Sidney set the vogue of writing sonnet sequences. In fact after Wyatt and Surrey, the sonnet was neglected for a number of years. It was for Sidney to revitalize this form by composing one hundred and eight sonnets, all put in Astrophel and Stella, which celebrate the history of his love for Penelope Devereux, sister of the Earl of Essex, a love brought to disaster by the intervention of Queen Elizabeth with whom he had quarreled. As poetry they mark an epoch. They are the first direct expression of an intimate and personal experience in English literature. As a sonneteer Sidney is placed next only to Shakespeare and Spenser. His sonnets are mostly written in mixed Italian and English form.

The next most notable Edmund Spenser wrote Amoretti, a sequence of eighty eight sonnets addressed to Elizabeth Boyle whom he married in 1594. In them the poet gives expression to his feeling of his heart in a sincere and unaffected manner without any recourse to allegory. Here is not the unquiet of Sidney’s love for Lord Rich’s wife, nor the complaining tone of Shakespeare whose mistress deceived him with his friend. Spenser’s sonnets are unique for their ‘purity’, ‘maidenliness’, and divine qualities’. In style it is improved upon and rhyme scheme is three interlinked quatrains in an alternative rhyme with the couplet standing alone i.e. abab bcbc cdcd ee.

Shakespeare’s sonnets are expressions of his feelings and experience of love and lust, of friendship and honour, of growth through experience of sin, expiation, of mutability, plentitude and the knowledge of good and evil. According to Oscar Wilde, they are a dramatic presentation of the passions and conflicts raging with in the poet’s own soul. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets -sequence first published in Thorpe’s edition of 1609. Most critics agree that Shakespeare’s sonnets consists of two group of poems – a long series addressed to the Fair Youth (sonnets – 1 to 126) followed by a shorter series concerned with the Dark Lady (sonnets 127 – 154). The Shakespearean sonnet is divided into four parts – three quatrains and one couplet. Each quatrain has its own rhyme scheme as, abab, cd cd, efef, gg. Like the Italian sonnet the Shakespearean is also normally addressed to dear one, as mentioned already, but unlike the Italian sonnet, it has no turn of thought, hence no pause. Again, Shakespeare’s Sonnets are indeed autobiographic hints. Like the Sun, the Man Shakespeare is hidden in his own brightness. But these are rending of the robe of light, through which glancing, we see something of a darkness, something of that stuff" of mortality of which all mankind are made.

The other notable contribution is Henry Constable’s Diana, containing twenty eight sonnets, besides four sonnets To Sir P. Sidney’s soul prefixed to Sidney’s Apology For Poetry. Henry in his sonnet is often ingenious, sometimes graceful and always conventional. Samuel Daniel’s Delia, a sonnet sequence of fifty sonnets is distinguished by a happy choice of words and phrase and sweet flow of verses. Michael Drayton’s Idea, containing fifty one sonnets however lacks true passion.

The Elizabethan sonneteers, as we saw, used a vocabulary and phraseology in common with their fellows in Italy and France, and none the less produced fine poetry. But they used it to express things they really felt. The truth is it is not the fact of a poetic diction which matters so much as its quality whether it squares with sincerity, whether it is capable of expressing powerfully and directly one's deepest feelings.

The Prologue To "Canterbury Tales": A Picture Gallery of 14th Century


14th-century English poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s "Canterbury Tales" (probably written after 1387), the crowning achievement of Chaucer's life, is of perennial importance, invaluable alike to the student of poetry, to the historian who aspires to delineate the social life of the period, and to the philosopher.

 The Tales is a collection of stories set within a framing story of a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, the shrine of Saint Thomas à Becket. The poet joins a band of pilgrims, who assemble at the Tabard Inn outside London for the journey to Canterbury. The Host of the inn proposes a storytelling contest to pass the time; each of the 30 or so pilgrims (the exact number is unclear) is to tell four tales on the round trip. Ranging in status from a Knight to a humble Plowman, they are a microcosm of 14th-century English society.  Chaucer completed less than a quarter of this plan. The work contains 22 verse tales (two unfinished) and two long prose tales; a few are thought to be pieces written earlier by Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales, composed of more than 18,000 lines of poetry, is made up of separate blocks of one or more tales with links introducing and joining stories within a block.


In the "Prologue" he has hit off the points of the several characters with unrivaled grace and dexterity. By the degree physiognomy, dress, eccentricity they are the moving picture gallery of 14th century English Society virtually covering every contemporary English class except the very lowest.

 We see before us these major characters:

👆The Narrator is in the personae of Chaucer. A somewhat detached, ironic, self-deprecating bourgeois figure can be seen in him.

*  👆 The chivalrous Knight; genteel man who loved truth, freedom, chivalry and honor, a truly distinguished idealized man. He battled Christians and non-Christians, (Crusades), his fighting spanned 40 years over three groups of people, over 15 battles covering the hundred years war, war in Prussia, Lithuania, and even Russia. He remained always victorious, plain and honest. He was going to Canterbury to thank the saints for preserving his life through his battles. He is the most prominent and respected character of the tales.

👆 The young Squire," embroidered as a mead," and “as fresh as is the month of May;" the knight’s son, about 20 years old is ladies’ man, handsome (curly hair, strong and agile), singing, playing the flute; light-hearted, pleasant, talented, a fine horseman, knows how to joust, dance, write and draw. His character anticipates the type of the renaissance courtier. He is in the Canterbury party out of pleasure.

👆 The Knight’s Yeoman, ranked in service just above the groom, is so careful of his accouterments; he is servant to the knight and squire. A game-keeper by profession he looks to be outdoorsman, talented wood carver like the image of St. Christopher. He always carried a bow, a shield, arm guard of archery, a sword and a dragger.

👆 A Nun (Madam Eglantyne) or tenderhearted Prioress, spoke French (but very poorly) "after the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe;" bears an upper class social stand, eats in a refined manner. Physically – big forehead, sign of intelligence in her character, we find certain nobility but underscore there is vanities and foibles.

👆 The Monk, Daun Piers, dressed in fine clothes, some even trimmed in fur, loved hunting, fine foods and had several good hunting dogs that he was very proud of. He was rather fat, very jolly, and bald, and was tended to ignore the rules of the monastery; everything he does is a violation of his monastic vows. Instead, he is wealthy, luxurious and pleasure-hunt.

👆 The Friar, Hubert, is an example of absolute corruption who thought that instead of weeping and of prayers “men ought to give silver to the poor friars”. The white necked he was jolly, merry, very festive in dress with expensive fabrics but notoriously evil and cunning. He charged people to hear their confessions; the more you paid the more “repentant you were”. As he is licensed to beg, He even begged off of poor widows who had next to nothing.

👆 The Merchant, who sedulously attended to his business, and “spoke his reasons full pompously;" He convinces everyone that he was an expert in finance (his secret – he was horribly indebt). Solemn, serious, intelligent and cunning, he sets up a safety patrol at the English Channel, safety for tradesmen. However, notably he commits two economic crimes—usury and illegal foreign exchange deal.

👆 The Clerk of Oxford, a university student, who preferred books to any other earthly pleasure, and who would gladly learn and gladly teach; is very thin (almost under fed), threadbare clothing, but has 20 hand written books with him. He hasn’t sought secular employment yet, still studying logic. He did not talk often, but when he did it was with great dignity and moral virtue.

👆 The Sergeant of Law, one of the king’s legal servants, “ever seemed busier than he was;" was dressed in “parti-colored coat, expensive silk.” “Sergeant” means that he had to practice law with distinction for at least 16 years. Widely experienced, he knew every law that ever existed, very judgment, every case, and every crime since the conquest.

👆 The Franklin, or a free man, at whose house it "snowed of meat and drink;" is a wealthy landowner, but not of noble birth. His social position is a matter of disputes but as it is told he acted as Sheriff, checking and auditing each person’s property.

👆 The Shipman, who is a master of his job, has all the ills of his times. Freely roving form south to north, from Spain to Sweden, he sometimes acts like cunning pirates.

👆 The Doctor of Physic, whose" study was but little in the Bible;" used astronomy and astrology, used his patient’s horoscope for information on how to treat them. He is considered a perfectly practicing physician. In league with the druggist – worked with the pharmacist to make more money off of people. He is familiar with medical authorities and their works. He is not excessive in his own life, very healthy; not religious, materialistic; made a lot of money working during the Plague. The character is itself a vivid study of the then time medical profession.

👆 The gaily attired buxom Wife of Bath; somewhat deaf, gap-teeth, large hips hidden by her clothing is an abiding interest among the pilgrims. She always wanted front row in church and to be first at any offering. She wore a heavy (10 lbs) head dress, red stockings, and new shoes. Being a impassioned traveler she went on other famous pilgrimages – Jerusalem, Rome, Boulogne, Compo Stella, and Cologne. Most interestingly she is a new kind of feminine identity where she is independent minded, opposed to patriarchal control. Her episode of pilgrimage also can be termed as husband hunting campaign.

👆  The poor Parson, the ideal Christian parish priest, is very poor but rich in holy thoughts. Benign, patient, diligent, moral and humble was principle to live the perfect life first and then teach by example he cared for his parishioners; nothing could keep him from going to check on them.

👆 The Parson’s brother, the ploughman, another ideal Christian man who, if it lay in his power, was always ready to work for the poor without hire; ideal Christian man. He followed the two greatest commandments unruffled by pleasure and pain, “love god and love your neighbour as yourself.”

👆 The stout Miller, big and brawny man who could wrestle anyone, was not over honest, and carried with him a bagpipe which he could “blow and sound." Red beards, hairy wart on his nose, hair in his ears, black nostrils make this muscle man fiercer.

👆  The Reeve," a slender, choleric man;" short haired, thin, lean legged, bad tempered manager of a large estate, was able and efficient. Outwitting auditors and even lords, he has accumulated huge fortune for himself.

👆 The Summoner, a man paid to summon sinners to come to trial, with his "fire-red cherubim's face;’ red complexion, boils and lesions all over his face (nothing could cure them) speaks Latin. He is corrupt, easily bribed ecclesiastical post.

👆 The Pardoner, with his wallet full “of pardons come from Rome all hot; "sold pardons and indulgences to those charged with sins. With Loud high-pitched voice, long flaxen hair, effeminate characteristics, he knew how to sing and preach to people to frighten them to buy the relics. He has made a lot of money selling his fake relics and obviously a corrupt ecclesiastical post.

👆 The jovial Host of the Tabard, a fit predecessor to "mine host of the Garter" and to Boniface,” Harry Bailly is a jolly character who offers a feast to the best story teller as he is the judge of the stories. Again he is the coordinator of the heterogeneous company.

👆  The Manciple a steward for a dormitory of law students, who are in charge of buying food for the lawyers, very frugal and shrewd, most times outwitted the lawyers and ended up with money in his own pocket. His cunningness is ironically described as wisdom of his. 

👆  The five Guildsmen {a Haberdasher, a Dyer, a Carpenter, a Weaver, a Carpet-Maker} belonged to a guild (associations of tradesmen, somewhat powerful in his time period).they are luxuriously dressed. Their wives are demanding and controlling, they want servants to carry their mantles and trains like a queen. They are the emerging social merchant group.

👆 The Cook, Roger of Ware, servant to the Haberdasher, Dyer, Carpenter, Weaver, and Carpet-maker is satirically drawn. He has an open sore on knee and is accused of selling stale, unhygienic and contaminated food.

Reference:  
1.Josipovici, G. D. (1965, June). Fiction and Game in The Canterbury Tales. Critical Quarterly, 7(2), 185–197. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8705.1965.tb00165.x 
2. Conley, J. (1953, January). Chaucer the Maker. John Speirs. Speculum, 28(1), 200–202. https://doi.org/10.2307/2847217

Analysis of Virginia Woolf's Essay "Modern Fiction"


 
Virginia Woolf in her Modern Fiction makes a fair attempt to discuss briefly the main trends in the modern novel or fiction. She begins her essay by mentioning the traditionalists like H. G. Wells, Arnold Bennett and Galsworthy, who, while they propound new ideas and open out new vistas to the human mind, still follow the Victorian tradition as far as the technique of the novel is concerned. Read More Essay They believed that a great force on the individual was environment. However, they differed from one another in subject matter – in Arnold and Galsworthy the socialist point of view dominated and Wells, a brilliant writer of scientific romances. Read More Essay Mrs. Woolf marks these three as ‘materialists’. While defining the term Woolf states that these writers as well as their writing is stuffed with unimportant things; they spend immense skill and dexterity in making the trivial and transitory a boost of truth of life. As life escapes, the worth of the literary piece in minimal. Mrs. Woolf while criticizing the three makes a pivotal point of criticism on the traditional method of novel writing of Fielding types.

            Extending the pinnacle of criticism Mrs. Woolf further bids her point that the types are devoid of life or spirit, truth or reality. The essence of the novel i.e. the reality of life is missing in the traditional method of novel writing which is superficial characterization, artificial framework. Here in this types ‘the writer seems constrained, not by his own free will but some powerful and unscrupulous tyrant’. Read More Essay The tyrant is none other than the restriction or the catalogue of types – such as plot, comedy, tragedy, treatment of love etc. in dressing up all these criterion what we receive is the death of life or spirit or spontaneity or flow of conscience behest of terminology or doggerel methods.

            Mrs. Woolf makes it clear that the objective of the writer in his or her creation is to look within and life as a whole. The traditionism or materialism do not capture that moment – the reception of the mind of myriad impressions – trivial, fantastic, and evanescent or engraved. Thus to trust upon life, a writer is free and he could write what he chose. Read More Essay So to dot down what he feels should not be conventionally in comedy, tragedy or love interests in accepted styles. Here is a withdrawal from external phenomena into the flickering half shades of the author’s private world. The reality lies not in the outer actions, but in the inner working of the human mind, in the inner perceptions.

Virginia Woolf
Further, analyzing the inflow of life, Mrs. Woolf defines life not as a series of tales symmetrically arranged. She says it as a ‘luminous halo, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of conscious to the end’. Conscious is a constant flow, not jointed, not chopped up in bits. Thus the purpose of the writer should be the delineation of deeper and deeper into the human consciousness. Mrs. Woolf, in this respect, mentions the innovators like James Joyce and Joseph Conrad. Citing an example from The Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses, she points out that here is in the story apparent disconnection and in coherence as a result of recording the ‘atoms of life’ in the stream of conscience. Read More Essay Through ineffable style, fragmented, hazardous, and unpleasant, here is undeniably important spirit or life. Mrs. Woolf comments “In contrast with those whom we have called materialists, Mr. Joyce is spiritual’.

Read More Essay The externals of personality the habits, manners, physical appearance etc are altogether discarded as it seems impossible to give a psychologically true account of character by such means. Joyce’s in his novel loses himself into the complexities and subtleties of inner life.

            The new novel on consciousness, as Mrs. Woolf clarifies, is purely psychological. Under the influence of new psychological theories, life is not regarded as a mere tales, but a series of moments. Read More Essay In fact, the psychological theory of the functioning mind is a stream – of –consciousness. The technique or method by which it is possible to capture them is truly the new type, Mrs. Woolf asserts. Here is Joyce and the types who are to explore the dark places of psychology ignored still date. Mrs. Woolf here observes a key point from Russian literature where, particularly Chekhov is worth mentioning of exploring the world of mind as well as the world of heart. Modern English fiction is influenced by Russian literature – its spiritualism, saintliness, inquisitiveness.

            In conclusion, Mrs. Woolf in Modern Fiction pleads not to be narrow- minded and conventional. She says that there are ample possibilities of the art and here is no limit to the horizon. Here no ‘method’, no experiment, no extraordinary is forbidden, but only falsity and pretence should be discarded. Read More Essay The proper stuff of fiction does not exist – everything is the proper stuff of fiction, every feeling, every thought if they are saturated by spirit or life in it. 

Reminder of Key Points

Analysis of Virginia Woolf's Essay "Modern Fiction":

👉Subjectivity: Woolf emphasizes the importance of an individual's perspective in modern fiction, rejecting the conventional "omniscient narrator" approach.

👉Stream of Consciousness: She advocates for the use of this literary technique, allowing readers to delve into characters' minds and emotions.

👉Psychological Realism: Woolf appreciates the portrayal of characters' inner lives and complexities, going beyond surface-level descriptions.

👉Rejection of Traditional Plots: She criticizes the predictable, formulaic plots and advocates for more experimental narrative structures.

👉Momentary Reality: Woolf values capturing fleeting moments of life, as opposed to linear, time-bound storytelling.

👉Characterization: Instead of focusing solely on external events, she encourages the exploration of characters' inner thoughts and motivations.

👉Intensity of Experience: Woolf believes in conveying profound emotions and experiences in fiction, transcending mundane occurrences.

👉Abstract Representation: She supports the use of symbols, metaphors, and abstract language to convey deeper meanings.

👉Women Writers: Woolf expresses the need for female authors to break free from societal constraints and write beyond conventional male-oriented perspectives.

👉Modernism: The essay embodies the essence of modernist literature, breaking away from traditional norms and exploring new narrative techniques.

In "Modern Fiction," Virginia Woolf challenges the established norms of storytelling, advocating for a more subjective and psychologically rich approach in contemporary literature. Her analysis highlights the significance of individual experiences and emotions, paving the way for the modernist movement in the literary world.


Now Try to Answer These Questions: 
 
Q. “Whether we call it life or spirit, truth or reality, this, the essential thing, has moved off, or on, and refuses to be contained any longer in such ill fitting vestments as we provide” – Elucidate the points of criticism of the materialistic novels by Virginia Woolf.

Hints:Virginia Woolf criticizes materialistic novels for:

Lack of Depth: They focus on external, superficial aspects of life, ignoring the complexities of human emotions and inner experiences.

Neglect of Subjectivity: Materialistic novels overlook individual perspectives, failing to explore the rich inner lives of characters.

Formulaic Plots: These novels rely on predictable, formulaic storytelling, lacking innovation and experimental narrative techniques.

Emphasis on Possessions: They prioritize material possessions over the profound aspects of existence, neglecting the spiritual and emotional dimensions.

Inadequate Representation of Reality: Woolf argues that materialistic novels do not capture the essence of life or truth, presenting a shallow and limited view of reality.

Q.“Life is not a series of gig-lamps symmetrically arranged; life is a luminous halos, a semi-transparent envelope surrounding us from the beginning of consciousness to the end” – How does Virginia Wolf in her Modern Fiction defend the stream of consciousness novel against the ‘materialistic’ novel?

Hints:Virginia Woolf defends the stream of consciousness novel against the 'materialistic' novel in "Modern Fiction" by:

Emphasizing Subjectivity: Stream of consciousness delves into characters' inner thoughts and emotions, offering a more profound and subjective understanding of life.

Capturing Luminous Halos: It explores the subtle, intangible aspects of human experience, representing life's complexities beyond superficial material possessions.

Resisting Symmetry: Rejecting formulaic plots, it portrays the non-linear, organic flow of thoughts and feelings, mirroring the unpredictability of real life.

References

Virginia Woolf ; A Collection of Critical Essays : Sprague, Claire : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/virginiawoolf0000unse_z1v3

Modern Fiction (essay) - Wikipedia. (n.d.). Modern Fiction (Essay) - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Fiction_(essay)

A Critical Essay on the Use of Symbols in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of The Ancient Mariner"



Symbolic Tapestry in T. S. Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Introduction

The term ‘symbolism’ can be defined as the practice, system and art of representing ideas by means of symbols. The term ‘symbol’ although is a word, a phrase, an object, or a clause even, yet it always represents an abstraction. So the thing represented is an idea, quality, condition, or any other abstract thing. T. S. Coleridge's renowned poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," weaves a complex tapestry of symbolism, captivating readers with its profound imagery and allegorical depth. Published in 1798, this narrative masterpiece employs a plethora of symbols to convey deeper meanings and explore themes of guilt, redemption, and the human relationship with the natural world. This critical essay delves into the rich symbolism embedded within "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and elucidates its significance within the poem's broader context.

Kinds of symbols:   Use of symbols in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"

Coleridge has employed symbolism in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", as Elmer Edgar Stoll sums up in two artistic symbolic categories- symbols of distance and symbols of life in Middle Ages.

Elmer Edgar Stoll opines that the symbols are based on the ‘principle of’ perspective’. The symbols of the art of story telling serves to heighten the illusion; credibly the marvels, provide an approach to them, a middle distance, which makes them appropriately hover remote. There is also nearer distance. The wedding Guest is a symbol of the middle distance. He stands between The Ancient Mariner and his voyage in a land of marvels. The marginal comment of the poet is a symbol of never distance. It stands between the reader and the marvel land of poetry.

Further, the Hermit, the pilot and the pilot’s boy, again the background of the sea-port hill, the church, and the lighthouse are symbols of the vanished life of the middle Ages. Hence in the words of Stoll, “When the Mariner and his strip, equally bewitched arrive, the effect of the mere sight of them on normal every day Hermit, pilot and pilot, boy is startling, shocking. The effect of that in turn upon the Wedding Guest and also the reader is convincing." 

The Mariner – A symbol of Inquiring Spirit

E. M. W. Tillyard looks upon the "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" a symbol of “an unusually inquiring spirit,” and his voyage as a ‘internal adventure’. Allan Grant says that The Mariner’s tale is a story of a voyage into the interior. Not only into the unfathomable depths of the sources of human action; the story also takes us beyond the human world altogether. Again, it is a voyage of extreme contrasts of suffering and of expiation, of the human and social and an altogether alien cosmos with its own terrible yet beautiful order.

Water

Water, a ubiquitous element throughout the poem, assumes multifaceted symbolic significance. On one hand, it represents life and sustenance for the mariner and his crewmates during their maritime journey. However, as the ship becomes stranded in an eerily stagnant ocean, water assumes a foreboding presence, symbolizing the unpredictable and treacherous aspects of existence. Moreover, water acts as a purifying agent, both physically and metaphorically, signifying the transformative power of repentance and redemption.

The Hermit

The hermit, a figure of spiritual guidance and redemption, emerges in the later stages of the poem. This benevolent character represents the possibility of absolution and acts as a catalyst for the mariner's ultimate redemption. Through the hermit, Coleridge emphasizes the importance of compassion and forgiveness in the face of profound guilt. The hermit's role in the narrative symbolizes the potential for spiritual growth and serves as a beacon of hope amidst the mariner's bleak journey.

The Skeleton Ship

A haunting and macabre symbol, the appearance of the skeleton ship, crewed by Death and Life-in-Death, embodies the enduring consequences of the mariner's actions. This spectral vessel symbolizes mortality and the eternal burden of guilt. Death and Life-in-Death engage in a fateful dice game, representing the arbitrary nature of life and death and highlighting the weight of the mariner's transgressions. The symbol of the skeleton ship underscores the inescapable consequences of one's actions and underscores the enduring nature of moral culpability.

Moon Symbolism

According to A. Douglas, “With Coleridge, a weak or waning moon is pretty clearly a powerful symbol for loss of mother love. In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", Part-iii the crescent moon rises after life in death has won the Mariner’s soul and Death has won his ship mates lives. Here The moon rises in the east, while the moon always rises in the west.

The Albatross: Shooting of the Albatross

Taking center stage, the albatross assumes a pivotal role as the poem's most prominent symbol. Initially, this majestic bird signifies good fortune, guiding the ship through treacherous icy waters. However, the mariner's inexplicable act of shooting the albatross transforms it into a symbol of guilt and retribution. The albatross embodies the innocent beauty of nature and represents humanity's inherent interconnectedness with the environment.  The Albatross is following the ship- stands for the power of nature, coming to the help of the Mariner and his crew. It saves them from snow and fog. The bird seems to suggest some redeeming force in creation that guides humanity:
“As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God’s name.”

image: wikipedia
The shooting of the Albatross comes quite suddenly and irrationally. Its killing serves as a powerful reminder of the dire consequences that arise from the wanton destruction of the natural world. It symbolizes the sin of ignorance. The act is explicitly called hellish. As a result the ship is becalmed in a tropic sea. Etching heat replaces icy cold. The Mariner gradually discovers from the result of his action that the killing of the albatross is the violation of a great sanctity. The sympathy between Nature and voyage is broken and terrible retribution follows. The knowledge of evil is symbolized by the slimy things that crawl on the retiring ocean, and the death-fires and ‘witch’s oil’ burning by night.

Conclusion

T. S. Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" intricately weaves a tapestry of symbolism, illuminating profound truths about guilt, redemption, and the intricate relationship between humanity and the natural world. Through the evocative symbols of the albatross, water, the hermit, and the skeleton ship, Coleridge crafts a narrative that invites readers to contemplate their own actions, their impact on the environment, and the potential for spiritual and moral growth. This poetic masterpiece stands as a testament to the enduring power of symbolism in conveying profound insights and continues to captivate readers with its allegorical richness. Coleridge defines a symbol as something which presents the eternal in the temporal, and the universal in the particular. It is through the use of symbols that a poet conveys universal truth. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", being a Tale of the supernatural, is also symbolic and allegorical.
          Through a set of symbols the poem becomes a moral allegory which says,
                             “He prayeth well who loveth well
                               Both man and bird and beast.”

The whole poem illustrates the moral of an intimate kinship between all living things. God is on the side of pity and love, and the forces of the universe become hostile to those who show cruelly towards animals. According to C. M. Bowra, this poem is a “myth of guilt and redemption.
  

References
1. Stoll, E. E. (1948). Symbolism in Coleridge. PMLA63(1), 214–233. https://doi.org/10.2307/459414
2. McDonald, D. (1964). Too Much Reality: A Discussion of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-19004(4), 543–554. https://doi.org/10.2307/449508
3. Grant, Allan, A Preface to Coleridge, 1972.
4. The rime of the ancient mariner : Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 1772-1834 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/rimeofancientmar00coleuoft
5. The Romantic Imagination : C.m.bowra : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive. (n.d.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.72367

Stephen in "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is the Search of an Artist in Exile


Escape is the natural complement to the theme of Entrapment and Constraint. Joyce depicts escape metaphorically by the book's most important symbol and allusion: the mythical artificer Daedalus is not at all an Irish name; Joyce took the name from the mythical inventor who escaped from his island prison by constructing wings and flying to his freedom. Stephen, too, will eventually escape from the island prison of Ireland.

What are the specific objectives of teaching English as a second language at the secondary stage? How far is the current high school curriculum helpful in realizing the objectives?



In order to make the programme of Teaching English effective, we should first of all identify our objectives we want to achieve. It will help the teacher to apply the correct methods and devices to achieve the particular object at any particular stage. So it is extremely necessary to fix up the objectives of teaching English in the beginning. Read More Teaching English (TEFL) 

                With the change of the position of English in the new set up of India, the aims and objectives of teaching English has naturally undergone a change. We have accepted English as a second language. English is , therefore, taught now as a skill subject as opposed to literary subject. So the objectives of teaching English in schools will be the acquisition of linguistic or communicative skills.

How to Approach Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Masterpiece, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"



No ballad is so fun to read than Coleridge's masterpiece, The rime of the Ancient Mariner. Lowell, a renowned critic, Says ,"Coleridge has taken the old ballad measure and given to it, by an indefinable charm wholly his own, all the sweetness, all the melody and compass of a symphony and how picturesque it is in the proper sense of the word. I know nothing like it. Read More Romantic Period There is not a description in it. It is all pictures." For a clear understanding, obsolete words must be discussed, figures must be explained, and pictures must be clearly dwelt upon. In studying this poem, we cannot help but feel the wonderful imagery weird, grotesque, and romantic; we recognize back of it a powerful allegory; we see the double setting of a story within a story; we thrill at the supernatural; we feel the music of rhyme and rhythm, the throb of the internal rhymes, and the fascination of alliteration; we project ourselves back into the emotions of the Middle Ages. We recognize the ballad influence in the metrical form, in the quaint expressions, in the repetition of certain phrases. 

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