Give a Description of the Spectre Ship.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a notable literary work by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.
Answer
Give a description of the Spectre Ship.
The Spectre Ship in Coleridge’s (1772-1834) “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (1798) is a ghostly and frightening ship. This ghostly ship appears in the middle of the ocean when the Mariner and his crew are suffering from thirst and heat. The ship moves without wind or waves, which is supernatural and terrifying.
Skeleton-like Ship: The Mariner first sees a shadow in the distance and hopes it is a real ship that will rescue them. He bites his arm and drinks his own blood just to call out,
“A sail! a sail!”
But as the ship comes closer, the mariner realizes that it is not a normal ship. It has no breeze in its sails, yet it moves forward. The sun shines through the ship’s ribs (wooden frame). It makes the ship look even more eerie. It looks like the skeleton of a ship. The ship is of decay and death.
Ghostly/Supernatural Figures: Onboard the ship are two supernatural figures—“Death” and “Life-in-Death”. They are playing a game of dice. They gamble to decide the Mariner’s fate. The Life-in-Death is a ghostly woman with red lips, golden hair, and pale, diseased-looking skin. She is described as terrifying, like a nightmare. The mariner describes;
“The Night-mare LIFE-IN-DEATH was she.”
Life-in-Death wins the gamble, meaning the Mariner is cursed to live in suffering and loneliness—while all his crew members suddenly drop dead. The ship then disappears as mysteriously as it arrived.
To wrap up, the Spectre Ship symbolizes doom and punishment. This skeleton-like ship brings despair instead of hope. Its supernatural movement and ghostly passengers make it one of the most chilling elements in the poem.