Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part 1
Rime of the Ancient Mariner Part 2
While searching for other media that was related to The Rime of the Ancyent Mariner, I found a song by Iron Maiden appropriately titled “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” which breaks up different parts of the narrative with different styles of music. Iron Maiden begins with a fast and dynamic power ballad that follows the story of the Mariner until Life-in-Death wins his soul. The next section includes a haunting musical interlude that I can only assume represents the strange events that take place after the Mariner is cursed, and an eerie voice reads the portion of the ballad where the men of the ship all die. The music changes again to a calmer but swiftly moving tune as the Mariner begins to pray and the albatross is removed from his shoulders. The song resumes its musical style used at the beginning to tell the rest of the tale. I think it was really original to represent different portions of the story by using various tempos, volumes, and intensity. The structure they created in this song helped me understand more the strange events of this lyrical ballad. I really would love to hear what they would have produced to tell the story of what happens on the ship after the Mariner was cursed and before the curse is lifted.
Lilia -
ReplyDeleteI sit here grading in my Maiden T-shirt, so, yes, this song is one of which I'm quite fond (though a link to the performance from their 80s video Live After Death, which features lots of awesome sets and ridiculous spandex would have been more fun). You rightly point to how the dynamics of the music emphasize the movements within the poem. The next step is to develop some thoughts on how this can aid or alter an understanding of the text.