"Lyrical Ballads" as seen in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner": Playing with Life and Death

One of the ideals as set forth in Wordsworth's preface to Lyrical Ballads was that poetry was written in the "language of the common man", one reason being that it would be easier to understand. From the side notes to the "story format" of this piece, it is certainly evident that this concept is true in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

The piece certainly reflects the "common life" of the time, from seafaring adventures to the human nature of telling stories to one another. And times have not changed. People in our time still like to tell stories, and ships are still making their "seafaring adventures", though for a different reason entirely.

But the teller of this tale is certainly not an "man speaking to men", as what is going on in this epic is certainly not in the realm of our universe.

In the piece, an old, battered sailor grabs a random wedding guest and proceeds to tell him a story, a story of a woman named Death and an entire crew being resurrected from the dead, even angels coming down from the sky as a "blessed troop" after an invocation.

If I were this "wedding guest", I'd want to get far away from this loon after hearing this ridiculous tale. But the wedding guest, compelled by the mariner's story, stays on to listen.

And this other-worldly, crazy story certainly goes far beyond Wordsworth's claims of what a Poet should be. It does not represent "similar volitions and passions as manifested in the goings-on of the Universe", as Wordsworth writes.

Rather, it stretches to the "goings-on" of another Universe. And that, in my opinion, is what makes this piece so brilliant.

Wordsworth wanted poetry to be "simple" and "practical", but The Rime of the Ancient Mariner goes way beyond that. It is the fantasy element of another world, the human imagination conjuring up something not of this world, that makes the piece so interesting and entertaining to read.

And there is nothing "simple" and "practical" about a fantasy world. It is whatever the human imagination wants it to be, and can have unlimited possibilities.

But what makes it still applicable to our world is that it contains "real" elements, from the sailors to the sea, even to a wedding. These are things we can plainly visualize in our world.

But the complications start when the "ghosts" and "angels" start appearing. It makes you wonder, what is there after death? And can death be personified as Coleridge makes it so?

Death is a complicated issue. No one in recorded history has seen it and lived to tell about it. Life isn't as complicated, because we're all here, living it, right now.

But in this piece, it certainly is interesting to see what life is and what life isn't. In this piece, you can "escape" from our world, yet still be connected to it at the same time.

Wordsworth was right. A Poet is a "man speaking to men". And we all like to get lost in a "fantasy world" once in awhile, even though we're still in the "real world".

I can see where Coleridge's and Wordsworth's friendship is something to be treasured. Fantasy really is "human nature". Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get lost in some Harry Potter!