Symbolic Spatial Form In The Rime

Of The Ancient Mariner And The

Problem Of God

By Thomas Dilworth
 Thesis
• Dilworth’s thesis is that Coleridge created
two separate groupings, one of three
and one of nine, to give the poem a
specific spatial form to emphasize the
meaning of love and of God.
– Both love and God prove religion is a major part of
the poem and the redemption of the Mariner.
– The large pairing adds focus to the center of the
poem, that being the blessing of the water snakes,
and also, according to Dilworth, the main event in
the poem.
– The small pairing adds focus to the killing of the
Albatross, which is not the center but the other
main event of the poem.
 Large grouping
• The large grouping consists of nine pairs throughout
the poem and
– 1st - Departure from land-based society (line 21) and
return to land-based society (lines 501, 541)
– 2nd - Lost sight of ‘kirk’, ‘hill’, ‘light house top’ (lines 22-
24) and regaining sight of ‘light house top’, ‘hill’, ‘kirk’
(lines 465-466)
– 3rd - Similes of being closely pursued, with words
‘treads’/’tread’ and ‘his head’ (lines 45-48 and 446-
451)
– 4th -‘Round and round…split’ and ‘split…round and
round’ at start and closing of extensive movements of
the ship (lines 68-69 and 548, 557)
– 5th - ‘Vespers’ (lines 76 and 595)
– 6th - Antithetical ‘silences’ (lines 106, 109-110 and 365-
366, 498-499)
– 7th - Nocturnal lightshows associated with ‘dancing’
(lines 127-128 and 313- 317)
– 8th - ‘Skeletal’ ships moving unnaturally (lines 177 and
530)
 Small grouping
• The small grouping consists of three pairs
in the poem.
– X - The Bride and Life-in-Death, both ‘red’ (lines 34
and 190)
– Y - Ice ‘all round’ and water ‘everywhere’ (lines 59-60
and 119-123)
– Z – Albatross ‘for food or play…to the
mariner’s’/’mariners” ‘hollo’ (lines 73-74 and 89-
90)
 The order
• The order of all the pairings are:
– 1, 2, X, 3, Y, Z, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
– These pairings, though separate in
groupings, fit together according to
Dilworth
 How he knows
• Dilworth believes each of the pairings
are in fact pairings because they
are either mirrored events or
repetitions that occur nowhere else
in the poem. Though this is only
completely true for the group of
nine, he believes the smaller group
pairings are as stated because they
are significantly different in
meanings than when mentioned
elsewhere
 What the groupings do
• Dilworth believes the large group makes
the reader notice the center of the poem
as the blessing of the water snakes
because this is the point where the
Mariner is redeemed for killing the
Albatross and ‘set free’. Also he sees this
as the act of love that shows God, and
religion, are in the poem. He believes the
small group gives attention to the killing
without it making that event the center.
He also believes this grouping allows the
consequences to be easily seen.
 Why are the crew members
punished more than the
mariner?
• Dilworth says that first of all the crew
is punished because they believed
the killing was ok and therefore
partook in the killing without
actually killing. Second of all he
says that the Mariner is actually
punished worse than the crew
because he is punished with Hell on
earth. He cannot pray, sleep,
constant thirst, and isolation from
everything except the corpses.
Therefore he is punished the
 Why were they punished for
killing the Albatross?
• In the poem, the Albatross is not
simply a bird, it is a representation
of ‘one Life’. The killing is not for
food is a violation of the bond
between all living things.

 How is the Mariner
redeemed?
• When the Mariner blesses the water
snakes, he releases himself from
the perpetual Hell he put himself in.
This act of love is what reverses the
wrongs he committed.
 How is God in the poem?
• Dilworth firmly believes that God is in fact in
the poem because of the wrongdoing only
being fixed by an act of love. He believes
that love is God because it is the Christian
synonym for God.
• He also believes that the Polar Spirits
revenge is turned into penance which is
why God would allow the Mariner to suffer.
• Dilworth also believes that because the
Albatross stays for nine evenings
(vespers) he is representing the Catholic
novena or nine days of prayer. This
implies a communion between all non-
human living things to humans as being
equivalent to prayer in church.
 What is the theme?
• Dilworth believes the theme of the
poem is that blessing or love is
deeply everywhere and always
accessible even in the depths of
Hell.