Tag Archives: Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The Mariner’s Advice to College Students

By Robin Bates | Published: January 2, 2014

“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” appeals to college students because it explores how to live a meaningful life.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged climate change, environmental activism, quest for meaning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Comments closed

Ancient Mariner as a Halloween Poem

By Robin Bates | Published: October 31, 2013

“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” has passages appropriate for Halloween.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged gothic, Halloween, Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Comments closed

Waiting for the Tide to Turn

By Robin Bates | Published: August 23, 2013

Dickinson, Coleridge and Dickens come to mind as we await the moment of my father’s death.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "After great pain a formal feeling comes", Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, death and dying, Emily Dickinson, Samuel Taylor Coleridge | Comments closed

Poems Teach Us to Be Wise

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2013

Two young student athletes in my Intro to Literature took important lessons from “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and a Wendell Berry poem.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Thirty Years Later", Coming of Age, Education, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Wendell Berry | Comments closed

Midsummer Madness–Orioles Chasing First

By Robin Bates | Published: September 22, 2012

In this topsy-turrvy baseball season, as in Midsummer Night’s Dream, all things are possible and the Baltimore Orioles are a game out of first.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Baltimore Orioles, Baseball, Midsummer Night's Dream, Samuel Coleridge, Sports, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

What Fictional Fantasy Means

By Robin Bates | Published: January 6, 2011

Having taught British Fantasy Literature for the first time last semester, I need to think back on it before it becomes a distant memory. By reflecting publicly, I can share some of the insights I gained from the course. Two major things I learned are that (1) fantasy is an oppositional genre—by which I […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "Kubla Khan", "La Belle Dame sans Merci", "Lady of Shallot", Alfred Lord Tennyson, Alice in Wonderland Alice through the Looking Glass, Carl Jung, Charles Dickens, Christina Rossetti, fantasy, Geoffrey Chaucer, Goblin Market, Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Andersen, Hard Times, Hero with a Thousand Faces, Idylls of the King, J. R. R. Tolkien, James Barrie, John Keats, Joseph Campbell, Jungle Books, Kenneth Grahame, Lewis Carol, Man and His Symbols, Midsummer Night's Dream, Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, She, teaching, The Lord of the Rings, The Wind in the Willows, William Shakespeare | Comments closed

Washing Away Michael Vick’s Sins

By Robin Bates | Published: October 3, 2010

Spiritual Sunday In a follow-up to yesterday’s post on football quarterback Michael Vick, I want to elaborate further on Coleridge’s argument for penance. Penance is not only the right thing to do. It also can make you feel very, very good. Coleridge gives us images in Rime of the Ancient Mariner that drive this point […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Football, Michael Vick, Redemption, Religion, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Sin, Sports, T. S. Eliot, Wasteland | Comments closed