Taking Bearings, Setting a Course

An introduction to the major challenges a reader of the “Ancient Mariner” is likely to encounter. Part I builds on Owen Barfield’s recommendation that readers of Coleridge should concentrate on the what rather than the when and why ; and Part II uses the cover illustration—of a place never before suggested as a source for Coleridge’s poem—to bolster the same argument. Parts III and IV include a chapter-by-chapter rationale of the book and a description of some continuing historical determinants. Part V makes clear what the book does not attempt to explain, and Part VI suggests what can be learnt from reading the “Mariner” in ways suggested by some contemporary poets. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.