"Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too:
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze—
On me alone it blew...."See in text(The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Seven Parts)
These mirroring, rhyming phrases of “swiftly, swiftly flew” and “sweetly, sweetly blew” also contain two paradoxes. The ship flies “swiftly” but also “softly,” which is difficult for any vessel to do when travelling across an entire ocean. Furthermore, the wind blows on the Mariner but on nothing else around him, underscoring the sheer impossibility of this event.
"The guests are met, the feast is set..."See in text(The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Seven Parts)
Coleridge utilizes many different literary devices throughout the poem, such as this line where he uses internal rhyme. Coleridge employs this device, among others, to heighten the poem's effects by adding to the meanings of words and enhancing the cadence of the poem.
"And southward aye we fled...."See in text(The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Seven Parts)
So far, this poem has consisted of four-line stanzas, called quatrains, with a rhyme structure of ABCB. Coleridge deliberately breaks this style in this stanza and in several other places later on to demonstrate that he values content and meaning more than form and structure. This is significant because this poem and the larger collection it was published in, Lyrical Ballads, marked a significant transition in writing style away from classical poetic elements to the more modern, romantic period in British literature.
