als, in addition to many other safeguards, by the vast empire of English language (3:414)
In both the literal and symbolic sense, then, poetry preserves the integrity of far more than itself by its very existence, and it is nurtured by the entire culture because it is centered in the language. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge makes use of the power of poetry to reach the status of art. Whatever the ultimate "meaning" of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, it evokes a strongly dark mood and contains a plethora of dramatic and super-natural imagery. The spell under which the Mariner falls at sea becomes the basis for his eerie ability to cast a spell on the Wedding Guest with his "glittering eye." As surely as the Mariner was controlled by the forces of the universe, the Wedding Guest is controlled by the Mariner and is unable to attend to a most important family obligation. Coleridge's invocation of ghosts, angel-like spirits of light, and the imagery of the snakes upon the water contribute to an otherworldly, hypnotic atmosphere of gloom and magic. Thus the Wedding Guest is hypnotized into hearing of the Mariner's experience, even as the Mariner himself had been hypnotized into his life-changing experience at sea.
The Rime of the Ancient Marine, with its evocative images and dramatic turns of events, has an effect on the reader as well as the Wedding Guest. This is illustrated by the fact that the last line of each part of the poem, before each new part, is a kind of "cliff-hanger" of suspense. Accordingly, Part I ends with the shooting of the albatross. Part II ends with the hanging of the albatross around the Mariner's neck. Part III closes with the whizzing-by of the sailors who one by one are dying on the deck. Part IV ends when the albatross falls from the Mariner's neck into the sea. Part Vends with the conclusion, by the demons of the sea, that the Mariner is destined to repent eternally for his misdeed. Part VI c...