Monday, June 6, 2016

What are some examples of onomatopoeia in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a lengthy, narrative poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. 


Onomatopoeia is defined as, "A figure of speech that employs a word, or occasionally, a grouping of words, that imitates the sound it is describing, and thus suggests its source object. A word imitating a sound."  Some general examples (not from the poem) are things like "crash," "bang," "sizzle," or "slurp."


In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," I don't see many examples right at the start.  But then in the fifteenth stanza, Coleridge is describing a storm that the ship experiences at sea, and he uses the words "It cracked and growled, and roared and howled."  These are all samples of onomatopoeia, to help the reader experience the icy ocean all around.


Part II, stanza 5 -- "burst"


"drip" -- appears several times


"thump" -- end of Part III, the sound of men's bodies hitting the floor as they die


"whizz of my crossbow" -- the sound of the arrow flying to kill the albatross


Part VII, stanza 8 - "rumbled," the sound of the waves hitting the boat


I'm sure there are others.  This should be more than enough to get you started.

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