Rime of the Ancient Mariner

• “Like one, that on a lonesome road,

  Doth walk in fear and dread,

  And having turned round walks on,

  And turns no more his head,

  Because he knows, a frightful fiend

  Doth close behind him tread.”
• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is believed to have influenced the structure and themes of Frankenstein as Frankenstein’s narrative is presented as a warning to Walton against the dangers of the activities of the over-reacher in seeking forbidden knowledge.
• It also deals with a journey to an extreme polar region, isolation, a man committing a thoughtless act that impacts on others and the supernatural.
• In letter II, Walton states: “I am going to unexplored regions, to "the land of mist and snow," but I shall kill no albatross; therefore do not be alarmed for my safety or if I should come back to you as worn and woeful as the "Ancient Mariner." You will smile at my allusion, but I will disclose a secret. I have often attributed my attachment to, my passionate enthusiasm for, the dangerous mysteries of ocean to that production of the most imaginative of modern poets.”