The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

At this point, the Wedding Guest again interrupts the Mariner. Hearing that all the sailors died, he is afraid that the Mariner is also dead, and that he is a ghost or a zombie. However, the Mariner tells the Wedding Guest that he did not die like the sailors: “Fear not, fear not, thou wedding guest! / This body dropt not down” (10).

The Mariner goes on with his tale. He tells the Wedding Guest that now, all alone on the ship, he felt trapped between the sea and the bodies of the dead sailors. The Mariner loathes the slimy creatures that are living on top of the ocean. He wonders why they should live while his crew is dead. He tries to pray but finds he is unable to. Despite closing his eyes, the Mariner is still cursed by the sailors’ eyes. The sailors’ bodies do not rot and the look in their eyes remains for a whole week. Even after this week, the Mariner is still not dead.

At the end of the week, the Mariner watches beautiful water snakes, rather than slimy sea creatures, swimming by the ship: “O happy living things no tongue / Their beauty might declare: / A spring of love gusht from my heart, / And I bless’d them unaware! / Sure my kind saint took pity on me, / And I bless’d them unaware” (12).