Topic > Compare and contrast The Rime of the Ancient Mariner...

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1834 poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and Jane Campion's 2009 film "Bright Star" are both works that communicate sensibility romantic through the chosen forms. Although both Coleridge's and Campion's forms differ drastically, the same Romantic values ​​can be seen underlying each piece; themes such as the defense of nature, the disastrous effects that trying to control nature can cause and the idea of ​​passion over reason. In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" nature is described not only as a physical force, but also a spiritual one. Throughout the poem, Coleridge implements the theme of nature in many ways, however one of the most important aspects is the idea of ​​nature as a spiritual moral teacher. In the poem, Coleridge portrays nature as wild and untamed; uses a loose meter that varies between tetrameter and trimeter to reflect the mental and physical actions taking place in the stanzas. For example, when "the storm came" and pushed the ship "southward" into the "fog and snow," there is a stanza that describes the ship's "leaning masts" as the storm took control of the boat. This verse not only reflects the wild and untamed nature of the storm through the freer verse, which makes the rhyme scheme almost uncontrollable, but also through the length of the verse itself, as it is two lines longer than the previous and next verses . Coleridge uses the same technique when presenting the mental state of the characters, particularly the sailor's inner turmoil as his punishment for his crimes against nature unfolds. In an attempt to control nature, the sailor shoots an albatross that the crew had "saluted... in the name of God" and the consequences prove disastrous for him as he finds himself removed from nature. The effect it has on the Sailor is immediate as Coleridge extends the stanza describing the Sailor's "hell thing" to six lines that mirror his inner turmoil. The Mariner's punishment continues, and due to romantic belief in a pantheistic ideal, he finds himself unable to pray. When Keats is away from Fanny, he sends her a letter stating that he "almost [wishes] they were butterflies"; Fanny responds by starting a butterfly farm in her and Toots' room. Campion uses close-up shots of a butterfly to represent the seemingly innocent nature and beauty of the task; however, Fanny's attempt to control nature by capturing it and using it to almost reconstruct Keats' words proves to be a negative effect. After a very short period of time, some butterflies die and it symbolically reflects Fanny's happiness as Keats writes to her about his failure and lack of financial stability. Campion uses a close-up shot to show the numerous dead butterflies being swept away; this suggests that the use of extreme close-up to present the butterfly alive and vibrant served to reinforce the idea that controlling nature has more negative effects than positive ones. The similar shots to portray the destructive tendencies of nature and the negative effect that controlling nature can have is Campion's way of expressing Romantic sensibility through his