varied

Interestingly, although Wordsworth attempts to discount The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as a poem with many “defects,” he simultaneously supplies a vague explanation of the poem’s merits. Wordsworth is indeed correct in acknowledging Coleridge’s brilliant manipulation of language – stating that The Rime’s stanzas are arranged in a meter that is “harmonious and artfully varied.”

This harmonious, metric variation is most prevalent in the first and second parts of the poem, as each line alternates between tetrameter (4 beats) and trimeter (3 beats). Although one may be inclined to believe that such a variation would create an unsymmetrical and chaotic sound, this pattern actually produces a unique rhythm and dramatic tension throughout the poem.

The initial tetrameter structure extends the poetic line in the audience’s ear, creating a sense of apprehension as they await the following line. The second line, however, is in the trimeter structure and appears to swiftly and succinctly follow the slightly longer, preceding line. It is this second line that often completes the thought or image that was introduced in the tetrameter line, while helping to create this varied and undulating sound.

Moreover, while this unique undulating pattern gives the poem a certain amount of dramatic tension, it also appears to emulate the motion of a boat moving among the waves in open sea. Although the Mariner is seeking penance by retelling his story on land in order to seek penance, the rhythm of his words cannot escape the rhythmic motion of the sea.