Previous
Eyes
The Sun and Moon symbolize the competing influences on the Mariner’s journey and on the world. The two compete with each other, at times embodying the forces of both the natural and supernatural world. The sun is associated with blood, heat, dryness, and the thirst that ultimately kills the Sailors. It symbolizes both the majesty and the terror of the vast natural world, as it is described with sublime beauty and is also used to tell which direction the ship is traveling. The moon, as it is responsible for shaping the tides, symbolizes the supernatural and divine influences on nature. We can note that the ghostly ship of Death and Life-in-Death is superimposed over the sun, before the sun sets and is replaced by the moon. It is then by moonlight that the next stage of penance and the Mariner’s spiritual awakening take place. But it is this cyclic process and competition between the sun and moon that, together, symbolizes the unity of God’s creation, divine influence, and the cyclic process of sin, penance, and absolution that Christians experience.
The Sun and Moon Quotes in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The The Rime of the Ancient Mariner quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Sun and Moon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part III
Quotes
One after one, by the star-dogged Moon,
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.
Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down one by one.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part IV
Quotes
O happy living things! no tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware,
The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part VI
Quotes
This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
It was a heavenly sight!
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;
This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
No voice did they impart –
No voice; but oh! the silence sank
Like music on my heart.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Ancient Mariner LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Sun and Moon Symbol Timeline in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Sun and Moon appears in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part I
...into the sea and sailed southward—he indicates the direction by describing the path of the sun. When merry sounds are heard from the wedding feast, the Wedding Guest once more tries...
(full context)
Part II
...and the sea becomes extremely calm. Below a “hot and copper sky” and “the bloody Sun,” the Mariner and the Sailors become stranded in the ocean without water. Ironically, they are...
(full context)
Part III
...ship, creating a “dungeon-grate,” barred effect as it passes in front of the red setting sun.
(full context)
After Life-in-Death announces her victory, the sun sets and the moon rises. In the moonlight, one by one each of the Sailors...
(full context)
Part IV
Following this weeklong dead-eyed curse, the Mariner comes to his great realization. In the moonlight, while the ship’s shadow remains an “awful red,” the Mariner watches beautiful water snakes glistening...
(full context)
Part V
...the wind begin to rage and nature and supernatural spirits begin to act out. The moon is in the sky and a huge black cloud pours out rain; the natural world...
(full context)
The Mariner then describes how when the night ended and the sun rose, the angels too rose out of the bodies of the Sailors and flew around,...
(full context)
Part VI
The First Voice and Second Voice briefly continue their conversation, explaining that the moon and sea are working together to navigate and transport the ship. They then fly away,...
(full context)
Upon their departure, the Mariner wakes under the moonlit sky beside the dead Sailors. For a moment, his penance and the dead-eyed curse returns,...
(full context)
...and prays to God that he isn’t dreaming and truly has returned home. Still in moonlight, and now in the beautiful familiarity of his home bay, the Mariner sees the angels...
(full context)
