The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in popular culture

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A statue of the Ancient Mariner with the albatross hung from his neck at Watchet Harbour, Somerset, England, unveiled in September 2003 as a tribute to Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has been referenced in various works of popular culture.

Literature[]

• In Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire, Louis de Pointe du Lac quoted these lines when referring to Claudia: "Her lips were red, her looks were free, Her locks were yellow as gold: Her skin was as white as leprosy, The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she, Who thicks man's blood with cold".
• The poem features prominently in Douglas Adams's novel Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, in which the title character time travels to interrupt Coleridge's work on his poem "Kubla Khan". During a rambling dialogue intended to prevent Coleridge from unintentionally encoding in the poem information that could lead to the destruction of the human race, Dirk Gently's references to "Albert Ross", another character in the novel, are misheard as "albatross", which Coleridge says might be an idea for another poem he is working on and superior to a previous idea involving a meteor striking the Earth.
• In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, chapter 5, Victor Frankenstein quotes the lines: "Like one, that on a lonesome road / Doth walk in fear and dread / And, having once turned round, walks on / And turns no more his head / Because he knows a frightful fiend / Doth close behind him tread" (Penguin Popular Classic 1968 page 57, cited from Rime, 1817 edition). In the book's opening letters from Robert Walton to his sister, specifically Letter II, Walton explicitly mentions the poem by name and claims he "shall kill no albatross" on his journey.
• Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons's Watchmen includes a story within a story "Tales of the Black Freighter", which bears similarities to the poem through its supernatural themes and the tale of a mariner's impending doom.^{[citation needed]}

Games[]

• In the online computer game Guild Wars, the opening lines of NPC Samti Kohlreg's dialogue and the name of his quest reference the poem and the author.^[1] In its sequel, Guild Wars 2, the name of the item Rime-Rimmed Mariner's Rebreather is a reference to the poem.
• In the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering, the flavor texts of the cards Scathe Zombies, Wall of Ice and Will-o'-the-Wisp (all from the Limited Edition Alpha set) are quotes from the poem.^[2][3][4]
• The online computer game Legends of Equestria has a quest called "Rhyme of the Ancient Aviator." The eponymous pony is a grizzled pegasus who tells the player his backstory in the form of a lengthy ballad strongly inspired by the events of Coleridge's poem.^[5]

Comics[]

• MAD Magazine #200 (July 1978) published "The Rime of the Modern Skateboarder", a full-length burlesque by Tom Koch and Don Martin.^[6] A similar parody entitled "The Rime of the Modern Surfer" and previously been done by the same people.^[7]
• In Marvel Comics, author Bill Everett named his most famous character, the Namor the Sub-Mariner (an antihero), in part from this poem.^[8] Namor, The Sub-Mariner number 44 (1993) is an adapted version of the poem.^[9]
• Carl Barks' final ten-pager for Walt Disney's Comics and Stories in No. 312 (Sept. 1966) is a tale titled "The Not-so-Ancient Mariner". In it, the closing lines of the first part of Coleridge's poem ("Why look'st thou so?'—'With my crossbow/I shot the Albatross.") are quoted several times.
• The cartoonist Hunt Emerson produced a graphic novel, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, illustrating the poem, featuring visual puns, gags and grotesque caricatures. The text, however, is essentially used verbatim.

Music[]

• "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, from their fifth studio album, Powerslave (1984). Written by the band's bass player Steve Harris, the song is based on Coleridge's poem with many direct quotes from the text. The song is almost fourteen minutes long and like the poem, it contains several distinct sections with differing moods. It has remained a fan favourite for over 30 years.
• Fleetwood Mac's hit song "Albatross" drew its title from the poem, as the composer Peter Green read the poem when he was at school. The album The Pious Bird of Good Omen, which includes "Albatross", has a cover that features a nun with an albatross, alluding to the symbology among sailors and Coleridge's poem.
• Malvina Reynolds's song "The Albatross" is based on the poem and applies its moral to modern life.^[10]
• David Bedford recorded a concept album in 1975. An experimental work, it consists of two parts of the poem set to music, and is similar in style to a dramatic reading of the poem.^{[citation needed]}
• The song "Albatross" by Wild Beasts re-tells the story of the poem.^{[citation needed]}
• American punk band Alesana's song "Heavy Hangs the Albatross" is named in reference to the poem.^{[citation needed]}
• The Big Wreck song "Albatross" alludes to the poem, particularly via the lyric "I'll wear the albatross for one more day".^{[citation needed]}
• The band Foxing named their first album Albatross, and the song "Bloodhound" makes reference to "An ALbatross hanging from my neck"^{[citation needed]}

Film[]

• The lost 1925 silent film The Ancient Mariner contained a dream sequence based on the poem.^{[citation needed]}
• A 1952 Looney Tunes short is titled "Water, Water Every Hare".^{[citation needed]}
• Raúl daSilva produced and directed a critically acclaimed six-time international prizewinning visualisation of the epic poem, titled Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1975) using the work of illustrators of the past two centuries who attempted to bring life to the epic. Sir Michael Redgrave, who once taught the poem as a schoolmaster, narrates it. The film also includes a biography of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and how he came to write the poem.
• In 1998, BBC produced The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as a 57-minute made-for-TV movie with that features Paul McGann as both Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the Ancient Mariner. The film was directed by Juliet May and produced by Anne Brogan.
• The 2017 Canadian animated film Skin for Skin reimagines the story as happening on a North American river during the early days of the fur trade.^[11]

Sports[]

• Baseball pitcher Diego Seguí, who was pitching for the Seattle Mariners at the age of 40, was tagged by sportswriters as "The Ancient Mariner".^[12][13] Twenty years later, Jamie Moyer (who pitched until 49 in the MLB, and up to age 43 with the Mariners) inherited the nickname.^[14][15]
• Dick Stuart, one of the worst fielders in Major League Baseball history, acquired a number of humorously derisive nicknames to this effect, such as "Dr. Strangeglove", "Stonefingers", "The Man With the Iron Glove", and "The Boston Strangler". Another was "The Ancient Mariner", referencing the first two lines of the poem: "It is an ancient Mariner,/And he stoppeth one of three", comically ascribing this as percentage of batted balls hit within range of his position that Stuart supposedly fielded successfully.^[16][17]

See also[]

• Albatross (metaphor)

References[]