The Arrival of the Bee Box and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner :: English Literature

In The Arrival of the Bee Box and the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, compare the ways in which the choice of language, detail and the form, tell us about the feelings of the writer. In both poems, a range of literacy devices are used in order to express the feelings of the writers. Plath's poem is written similarly to the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and yet they are different in many ways. Plath wrote her poem in 1962 and Coleridge wrote his poem in the 1700's or early 1800's, and the style of writing differ, as Plath's writing seems to be more emotive, whereas Coleridge's work seems to have a more a gothic theme to it. One of the main literacy devices used in both poems is the extended metaphor. Plath uses the metaphor to show the box as a symbol of her life and how she wants to escape from it, but can't because of the consequences. "The box is locked, it is dangerous." I think she feels trapped within her life and the depression of everything is getting to her. She wants to get out and experience other things, but feels that she has created her life and therefore must live with it, "I ordered this, this clean wood box/ I have to live with it overnight" Possibly, this could be related to part of her past, where she tried to commit suicide, in order to end her life, so that she can be free of the box. In the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, there are many metaphors within it. As the boat travelled on its course, it came across some ice and it got stuck there. At that time the Mariner didn't know what to do. Then an Albatross came to the rescue and it cracked the ice so the mariner was able to carry on his journey, "at length did across an Albatross/thorough the fog it came; / As if it had been a Christen soul, / We hailed it in God's name. / It ate the food it ne'er had eat. / And round and round it flew./ The ice did split with a thunder fit;/ The helmsman steered us through!" I think the ice was a symbol for the limitations in life, and the barriers Coleridge has come across in life and he over come them. Also, maybe the ice was a symbol of the dangers that come with life, and once they are dealt with, you can move along safely. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is written in loose, short ballad stanzas usually either four or six lines long but, occasionally, as