The ice was here, the ice was there,

59
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled,
Like noises in a swound!
At length did cross an Albatross,
63
Thorough the fog it came;
As if it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name.
It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
67
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!

And a good south wind sprung up behind; 71

The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo!
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The sound devices and rhyme structure, specifically assonance, consonance, internal
rhyme, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. This is to communicates Coleridges purpose:
which I believe is to enhance and mimic the mesmerising effect of the Mariners words to
the Wedding Goer in Part 1 of the ballad, thereby Coleridge draws connections between
the Mariner and himself to communicate his struggles as a Romantic writer.
Internal Rhyme: found in line 68, The ice did split with a thunder-fit and line 63, At length
did cross an Albatross. It isrhyme that occurs within a single line in a stanza. The
resulting effect is that it creates a rhythmic beat in which the readers can follow, and for the
poet to intensify lines in stanzas. It can also transform simplistic events to complex ideas
to instigate contemplation. Within the context of Coleridges ballad, it is done to emphasise
the importance of the seemingly meaningless lines into attention grabbing details. This
technique works with other sound devices in orderer to serve Coleridges purpose; which I
believe is enhance and mimic the mesmerising effect of the Mariners words to the
Wedding Goer in Part 1 of the ballad, thereby Coleridge draws connections between the
Mariner and himself to communicate his struggles as a Romantic writer.
One of the other techniques used by Coleridge is assonance, which can be seen in line
73, And every day, for food or play. The use of onomatopoeia and consonance found in
line 61, It cracked and growled, and roared and howled. Both these techniques help
create the effect of aggressiveness within the mood in this situation. The sound, ck and
owled, connotes to a menacing and evil message, thereby emphasising the dangers of
the natural world, thus instilling the power of it.
Looking at the general structure of the passage, we can see that the stanzas follow of one
of two rhyming schemes. Either ABCB or ABCBDB. This creates an effect of a rhyming
pattern of an iambic tetrameter (4 syllables) in the first and third line, as well as iambic
trimester (3 syllables) in the second and fourth line of the stanza, but there are exceptions.
This creates a melodious rhythm when the ballad is read out. This enhances the story
telling effect for the reader when reading the Mariner's tale, immersing the reader into
shoes of the Mariner, experiencing his trauma and hardship. This leaves a more impactful

effect on the reader into learning something at the end of the ballad. As a result, this ballad
does not follow the traditional structure of a ballad, however these slighttechnical
manipulations, have created beautiful melody in which it adds to the mesmerising effect of
it, drawing the viewer in. (Similar to how Mariner mesmerises the wedding guest of his tale
and story) Due to the ambiguity of the entire poem, I believe that Coleridge wants us to
explore our own interpretation, as all these perspectives add to the depth and significance
of the poem, allowing us to explore our own true self. The format of this poem is a lyrical
ballad, which was the common type of poem to narrate a story, and can be sung because
of its rhyming pattern. This type was commonly used by romantic poets, which enhances
the readers experience when reading the Mariners tale told to the wedding guest.
Alliteration, or the techniques when words are used in succession begin with the same
sound, creating a repetition of similar sounds in the sentence, can be seen in line 61, It
cracked and growled, and roared and howled, where the ed sound at the end is
repeated. This repeated sound creates a certain rhythm associated to the lyrical ballad
structure, creating a constant beat, simulating the pattern of sounds coming from the ice
during the first part of the Mariners journey. This emphasises the greatness of the
surroundings of the Mariner, showing the power of nature against the Mariner. This could
allude back to Coleridges connections of the Mariner to himself, as being a romantic, he
believes in the emphasis of human connection towards spirituality and nature. In both
examples, they are constantly tormented by nature, and that the natural and spiritual world
are controlling human beings. This relates to the sea shanties, originally sung by sailors,
using rhythmic patterns to accompany their work.
We can also see the repetition of words contributing to the sound structure of the ballad.
This is shown through lines 59 to 60, The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all
around. The idea of the natural world is emphasised more on how it affects the crew, and
not on the irrational need to kill the bird. As soon as the mist goes away later in the poem,
they are no longer angry with the Mariner, which further proves their personified narcissism
Coleridge sees in the neo classism era during his time, where they end up being punished.
This is developed further when at the very end of the ballad, the wedding goer thinks to
himself about the message of the mariner's story, leaving as a sadder but wiser man. This
indicates the brutal reality that the wedding goer receives of his life being dictated by the
spiritual world, despite the mass material wealth he seems to possess, as well as his belief
that he himself is in charge of his own life.
Coleridge alters the typical traditional structure of the lyrical ballad in order to serve his
own purpose. These examples of manipulation of rhythm by Coleridge is shown through
line 71 to 74, And a good south wind sprung up behind, The Albatross did follow, And every day,
for food or play, Came to the mariner's hollo! It does not use drawn out syllables, only short
syllables are emphasised phonetically. This shows the rapid succession of rhythm, indicating the
mood of this stanza. Just like the winds spring[ing] up behind, it causes a quick gush of wind,
similar to the tempo of this stanza. This further emphasise teh power of the natural world and its
occurrences (i.e. wind), furthering Coleridges message of the powerful nature of the spiritual.