Contemporary and Universal : A Case Study of Themes in Coleridge ’ s Masterpiece-The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Dr .

Poetry has been defined as ‘spontaneous overflow’ of emotions by the great Romantic poet William Wordsworth. By this very definition emotions, which are integral parts of human beings,make poetry universally relevant. And yet its universality and relevance are often questioned in contemporary times by many, especially in the context of poetry of the past. Moreover, in the teaching and learning context, poetry is often considered to be rather impractical and unable to impart skills which are really needed on the ground. Students often deem poetry as a luxury or just an extra. So has poetry lost its relevance? Poetry not only is a treasure trove of emotions and literary expressions, it deals with multiple themes which are relevant, contemporary and universal. This paper aims to examine the relevance of poetry in the context of contemporary times and pedagogythrough the study of some of the universal and contemporary themes taking S. T. Coleridge’s masterpiece The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as a case study.


Introduction
Literature of any language is a reflection of the times mirroring the social and political issues prevalent. Thus any piece of literature is an important historical document of that time. Apart from this, human behavior and emotions are deeply involved with it. Moreover, an evolution of language through experimentation also occurs simultaneously resulting in the enrichment of the language. Lastly, literature unleashes creativity and encourages analysis. Both creativity and analytical skills are highly rated skills that are admired and considered to be relevant universally. Fiction, drama and poetry being the primary genres of literature, incorporate all of the above. However, in contemporary times, often it is claimed that literature in these genres has become redundant and obsolete. So its study both in academic and non-academic contexts is deemed to be a superfluous act. This is particularly said about poetry on account of its lyrical and musical qualities and also at times for its usage of archaic language. There can be no doubt that poetry opens new vistas before the eyes of its readers not only through the magnificent use of the language it is written in, but also through the insight into the emotions, opinions and perceptions of the writer as well as the times. Be it the last line of the Ode to the West Wind by Shelley, 'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?' (Shelley, 70), or the yearning of Keats in his poem Ode to a Nightingale to escape the physical world where humans are afflicted by palsy and youth dies soon 'Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs, Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies' (Keats, 25-26), poetry has multiple themes which have been and still are relevant to human beings. Apart from these, as mentioned in this paper, through poetry the intricacies of the human mind can be opened not only to lay readers but also professionals like psychiatrists. All this has been examined in this paper in the context of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In the teaching and learning context, poetry relates to analysis, evaluation and eventually creation, threeof the highest levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. So why the aspersion that poetry is not relevant or practical whether thematically or pedagogically? Doesn't the message of hope (Shelley, Ode to the West Wind) matter to all? Doesn't every individual at times feel the need to escape into another dimension (Keats, Ode to a Nightingale)? Don't students learn to analyze, evaluate and even create poetry and don't these skills manifest into skills related to their professions and society? This study focuses on contemporary and universal themes in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by S. T. Coleridge, a first generation Romantic poet, which make the poem eternally relevant.

Summary of 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'
The Rime opens with an old Mariner stopping a Wedding Guest who is on his way to a wedding. The Mariner wants to tell a tale to this man although the latter is most reluctant to listen.  (Stokes, 2011, p 7). The preservation of nature and the consequences of not adhering to this was a primary concern of Coleridge according to the Rime. The situation is no different today; preservation of nature is one of the most important responsibilities of all human beings.  (Zins,2008, p.194) Nature's vengeance is one of the most contemporary issues that mankind is facing. The havoc environmental changes have wreaked are for all to see. The depletion of the rainforests, the extinction of several species, and the pollution of all elements are evident and ominous. The results of all these atrocities are also equally evident. The raging and uncontrollable bush fires, the holes in the ozone layer and the on-going pandemic are all repercussions of the destruction of nature's phenomenal balance. At the center of it all, the perpetrator of this havoc is none other than man. Coleridge too indicates this in his poem in the 19th century when environmental issues were not so acute. So in Coleridge we not only see an able poet but also a visionary who can see ahead. Man's irresponsibility, as seen in the Mariner, ultimately leads to disaster. Alan D. Hecht and Joseph Fiksel, in their article Solving the problems we face: the United States environmental Protection Agency, sustainability, and the challenges of the twenty-first centuryclearly mention the urgency of the environmental issues in the twenty-first century.

Water Crisis
Constant human intervention with nature has brought the modern world to the brink of a water crisis. It is even said that the next world war is likely to be because of water shortage. Water tables have dropped in many countries and cities. In some backward countries, it is a daily struggle to get potable water and people, especially women, have to walk miles to get water. Coleridge

Tales as metaphor for journey of life
We live by tales and also die by them. Our lives are tales and every day we find ourselves entrenched in tales. We also love to hear and, in the modern context, watch tales. Soap operas and multiplexes are teeming with tales which we devour and revere because of how they relate to our lives. The Rime is a tale which the mariner is bound to tell. Anne Williams in her article An I for an Eye: "Spectral Persecution" in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner writes: The tale begins with an unquestionable first premise: "There was a ship" (10). The vessel setting out on its journey constitutes a basic metaphor for the body beginning life. The ship's movements follow the pulsions and rhythms of fluid, preoedipal drives of the semiotic chora. (Williams, 1993,  Sin, therefore is an important theme in the Rime. The killing of the albatross surely is a glaring example of a sin. It is more so since there is no motive or rationality behind this sinister act. About the sudden killing of the albatross, Christopher Stokes in his article "My Soul in Agony": Irrationality and Christianity in The Rime of the Ancient Marinerfurther writes: Thus, from the outset a relatively realistic travel narrative is contaminated by strangeness: fantastic, as we have already suggested or uncanny in the sense Freud gave it. It is within this already disoriented field that the crucial moment of the narrative occurs: the slaying of the albatross. There are two especially strange elements to this killing. Firstly, as many critics have pointed out, it happens without any apparent foresight or motive. In one stanza, the Mariner is describing vespers in the moonlight; in the next, the wedding guest is shocked by the terror in the Mariner's face; the killing simply happens (Stokes, 2011, p. 5). Along with sin is undeniably joined the concept of guilt which eventually leads to penance. These are phenomena which are timeless and no one can claim that they are not relevant in today's context. My assertion is that they are more relevant today than before considering the moral degradation we witness. Coleridge has explicitly expressed the guilt of the Mariner which emerged from his own heart after the mindless killing of the albatross but was also driven firmly into his spirit by the death of his fellow sailors and then by the relentless gaze of the dead men. The cold sweat melted from their limbs, Nor rot nor reek did they: The look with which they looked on me Had never passed away. (Rime Part IV, 253-256) The Mariner is assaulted by the horrible curse of those penetrating eyes and compares it with the curse of an orphan. Coleridge uses an extremely potent comparison to convey the guilt felt by the Mariner. He almost prays for death rather than be exposed to such accusatory eyes. An orphan's curse would drag to hell A spirit from on high; But oh! More horrible than that Is the curse in a dead man's eye! Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse, And yet I could not die. (Rime Part IV, 257-262) After sin comes guilt and that leads to penance. The piercing gaze of the dead men hurl accusations at the Mariner but his penance comes from multiple quarters. Some he faces along with his fellow sailors e. g. the merciless thirst and some he faces on his own i. e. the guilt, loneliness and inability to pray. The most powerful among these is his loneliness. He is bereft of companionship, utterly alone and at the mercy of the elements with a hundred corpses at his feet. Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony. (Rime Part IV, 232-235)

Passion
Humans are ruled by their so many passions. In fact, a person without a passion is hardly human. Moreover, there is the other meaning of passion which means the expression of extreme emotions. This too is an inherent trait of human beings. Anne Williams in her article 'An I for an Eye: Spectral Persecution in the Rime of the Ancient Mariner' describes the poem as 'extravagantly disunified' She writes: A disjointed, seven-part story, the ballad concerns an interrupted wedding and describes abrupt appearances and vanishings, intense, unmotivated passions. (Williams,1993, p. 1115) I would like to focus here that whether the poem can be considered to be disjointed is a matter for debate, but I whole heartedly agree that it is full of 'unmotivated passion'. Doesn't that make it so relevant, contemporary and eternal at the same time? Passions are timeless and so inherent to human beings and so often completely without instigation, in fact they are instinctive and spontaneous. How else can we explain the killing of the Albatross? The mariner just lifts his crossbow and kills the bird! The sailors are not too far away. After the dastardly act by the Mariner, they curse him first for his crime pointing out that the albatross was a good omen and had rescued them from the grip of polar ice. However, soon after, they hail the Mariner for killing the bird this time claiming that the albatross was the cause of their misery. About this Christopher Stokes writes: At first, the crew believe the bird had brought the wind, and turn upon the Mariner for destroying a creature of good fortune. When the fog clears, however, they swiftly change their opinion and believe "'T'was right…such bird to slay/That bring the fog and mist" (97-98). (Stokes, 2011, p. 97-98)