42 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2016
    1. The people thus afflicted, are miserably scratched and bitten, so that the Marks are most visible to all the World, but the causes utterly invisible; and the same Invisible Furies do most visibly stick Pins into the bodies of the afflicted

      Many of the afflicted were said to have visible marks from sustaining injury by supposed witch attacks. The "containment" of this evil was possible since often times when accused witches were seized and tried, the marks went away. However, in the case of blacks, it was thought that because their skin could never become white, they would never be cured of evil.

      McMillan, Timothy J. “Black Magic: Witchcraft, Race, and Resistance in Colonial New England.” Journal of Black Studies 25.1 (1994): 99-117. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

    2. the Shape of the Prisoner did oftentimes very grievously Pinch them, Choak them, Bite them, and Afflict them; urging them to write their Names in a Book, which the said Spectre called, Ours.

      Bridget Bishop and other accused were said to try to get their victims to sign a book, as if it were a rite to become "evil." Not signing this supposed satanic book meant that the victim was still "good" in some sense. Unfortunately, blacks were unable to maintain the perception of being good, as they were associated with the devil himself and came from what was thought to be demon infested lands. Whites were therefore more like sorcerers while blacks were "inherently evil."

      McMillan, Timothy J. “Black Magic: Witchcraft, Race, and Resistance in Colonial New England.” Journal of Black Studies 25.1 (1994): 99-117. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

    3. a little black Hair'd Man came to her, saying his Name was B. and bidding her set her hand to a Book which he shewed unto her; and bragging that he was a Conjurer, above the ordinary Rank of Witches; That he often Persecuted her with the offer of that Book, saying, She should be well, and need fear nobody, if she would but Sign it

      The Puritans place great weight on books, especially the bible and religious texts. They believed that their religious writings were essentially a "transmission of sacred information" and thus viewed books as being imbued with an otherworldly or godly power. Because of this, many were fearful of the "devil's book" or "black book." Many testimonies in the Salem Witch trials reveal individuals being forced to sign the devil's book and do the devil's bidding. The idea that this book had evil power, instead of healing or sacred power like that of the bible or other religious texts, has some relation to fetishism and the cultural practices in Africa where those natives would assign objects like bones and shells to have an influence on whoever had the object.

      Trigg, Christopher. "The Devil's book at Salem." Early American Literature 49.1 (2014): 37-65. Academic OneFile. Web. 8 Mar. 2016.

    4. the Black Man, (as the Witches call the Devil; and they generally say he resembles an Indian)

      Africans were suspected of witchcraft because Africa itself was thought to house numerous demons and devils. Europeans were especially frightened of Africans because they, like the devil, were black. Many testimonies in the Salem Witch Trials said that the devil showed himself as "the black man."

      Additionally, witches were thought to be "agents of the Devil" and had "tawny" skin. It was easy for colonists to make the correlation between witches and Indians, who also had tawny skin.

      Griffin, Dustin. “Cotton Mather and the Emerson Family.” Massachusetts Historical Review 16 (2014): 1-48. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

      McMillan, Timothy J. “Black Magic: Witchcraft, Race, and Resistance in Colonial New England.” Journal of Black Studies 25.1 (1994): 99-117. JSTOR. Web. 17 Feb. 2016.

    5. XVII. If the witnesses affirm upon Oath, that the suspected person hath done any action or work which necessarily infers a Covenant made, as, that he hath used Enchantments, divined things before they come to pass, and[Pg 33] that peremptorily, raised Tempests, caused the Form of a dead man to appear; it proveth sufficiently, that he or she is a Witch.

      Healing practices and other cultural practices of the natives seemed very much like witchcraft to the Europeans, especially powwows. Colonists especially believed they were "summoning the devil" and many claimed that these natives were "enchanting" the land, conjuring up fog to shroud their ships and cause other things to obstruct their paths. To William Bradford, governor of Plymouth, powwows seemed like the natives were summoning demons when they gathered "in a horrid and devilish manner." This once again relates to the idea that America was the "devil's land."

      Lovejoy, David S. “Satanizing the American Indian.” The New England Quarterly 67.4 (1994): 603–621. JSTOR. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

    6. There was not a greater Uproar among the Ephesians, when the Gospel was first brought among them, than there was among, The Powers of the Air (after whom those Ephesians walked) when first the Silver Trumpets of the Gospel here made the Joyful Sound. The Devil thus Irritated, immediately try'd all sorts of Methods to overturn this poor Plantation: and so much of the Church, as was Fled into this Wilderness, immediately found, The Serpent cast out of his Mouth a Flood for the carrying of it away.

      Mather is pointing out that the New Englanders are currently living on what was previously the "Devil's Territories" and uses typology to compare their inhabitancy to Christianity being brought to the Ephesians. This idea that America and its natives were satanical has been present since the Spanish Conquest. This was an especially logical assumption by conquistadors and colonists alike because none of the natives practiced Christianity or heard of the Christian God before their contact with Europeans. The conversion of natives to Christianity was also stressed because of their supposed contact with the devil.

      Lovejoy, David S. “Satanizing the American Indian.” The New England Quarterly 67.4 (1994): 603–621. JSTOR. Web. 7 Mar. 2016.

  2. Feb 2016
    1. Amongst other things which my husband sent me, there came a pound of tobacco, which I sold for nine shillings in money; for many of the Indians for want of tobacco, smoked hemlock, and ground ivy.

      These lines display hybridity because Rowlandson understood that tobacco was in high demand among the Natives. She sold whatever tobacco she received despite the fact that many colonists took to smoking tobacco as well. Because of her religious views, she chose to abstain from smoking tobacco, thinking that it could lead to sin.

    2. About that time there came an Indian to me and bid me come to his wigwam at night, and he would give me some pork and ground nuts. Which I did, and as I was eating, another Indian said to me, he seems to be your good friend, but he killed two Englishmen at Sudbury, and there lie their clothes behind you: I looked behind me, and there I saw bloody clothes, with bullet-holes in them. Yet the Lord suffered not this wretch to do me any hurt.

      This passage, not included in the Norton Anthology of American Literature, shows a Native offering Rowlandson food and speaking with her. Although the Native points out that her "master," or Native friend, had been kind to her, he had murdered Englishmen. Rowlandson does not seem to be completely bothered by this, perhaps because of her devotion to God and her belief that she would not be harmed while in their captivity. (She may have also thought the Native was lying to her, as she had mentioned previously that Natives lied about how her husband had remarried.) If this [religion] is the case, it allows her writing to be even more emblematic of the Puritan sentiment.

    3. ground nut

      Ground nuts are a perennial plant found in the central and eastern parts of North America. They grow in damp soil and have edible tubers that are said to taste similar to potatoes. Native Americans often consumed grounds nuts by boiling them or incorporating them into various dishes.

      Rowlandson's consumption of groundnuts display hybridity in that she is becoming somewhat accustomed to the Native cuisine. This paragraph also marks just one instance, from a number of narratives with contact zones, where a non-native had to depend of Native food in order to survive.

      Image of groundnut tubers

      "Apios Americana Ground Nut PFAF Plant Database." Apios Americana Ground Nut PFAF Plant Database. Web. 09 Feb. 2016. http://www.pfaf.org/user/plant.aspx?latinname=Apios americana

    4. squaw

      Squaw is the Native word for woman or wife and originated in the northeastern tribes of North America. The colonists adopted this word into the English language as the general term for a Native American woman but their use of it was often offensive or derogatory.

      "Squaw." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2016. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squaw

      "Squaw." Encyclopedia of North American Indians, Houghton Mifflin. Ed. Frederick E. Hoxie. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. Credo Reference. Web. 9 Feb. 2016.

  3. Jan 2016
    1. Antipodes

      antipode: the parts of the earth diametrically opposite —usually used in plural —often used of Australia and New Zealand as contrasted to the western hemisphere

      Smith most likely believed he was at the opposite side of the world from England.

      "Antipode." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/antipode

    2. The Spaniard never more greedily desired gold then he victuall, nor his souldiers more to abandon the Country, then he to keepe it.

      Smith wrote this document primarily for the English public. This comment about the Spanish would have been easily recognizable and understood by the English reading this. This reference was not only a reminder that the Spanish had tried to colonize the New World; it was also a reminder of their thirst for gold and the violent ways they went about obtaining it. An aversion of the Spanish seems to be found in much of the English colonists' writing because of their rivalry in converting Natives to their respective religions and obtaining profitable goods. Smith is not an exception.

      Appelbaum, Robert, and John Wood Sweet. Envisioning an English Empire: Jamestown and the Making of the North Atlantic World. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 2005. Print.

    3. He demanding for their Captaine, they shewed him Opechankanough, King of Pamavnkee, to whom he gaue a round Ivory double compass Dyall. Much they marvailed at the playing of the Fly and Needle, which they could see so plainely, and yet not touch it, because of the glasse that covered them

      Smith's interactions with the Natives here show that he was aware they would be amazed at the appearance of a compass. It is evident the Natives had never seen anything like it since they seem very intrigued at the needle's movement. Smith used this as a way to escape execution, playing on the naivety the Natives had for European objects and instruments.The image below depicts a diptych dial compass, which is what Smith's compass might have looked like.

      Image Description

      http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=386621001&objectid=55146

    4. Aquavitæ

      Aqua vitae is defined as a strong alcoholic liquor, such as brandy. It literally means "water of life" and has been used since the 15th century.

      "Aqua Vitae." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Jan. 2016. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aqua+vitae

  4. Dec 2015
    1. meanly

      Meanly is defined as in a lowly or inferior manner. Here the word refers to the girl's clothing as being lowly, indicating that she is poor.

      "Meanly." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/meanly

    2. venerable

      Venerable is defined as being valued and respected because of old age. The cottagers respect the old man, De Lacey; this is apparent since the creature uses venerable a number of times to describe the old man and also goes into detail about the love shared between the inhabitants of the cottage.

      "Venerable." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster. Web. 17 Nov. 2015. http://beta.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/venerable

    3. Safie related that her mother was a Christian Arab

      A Christian Arab is someone who is ethnically Arab and a follower of Christianity. The Islamic conquest had often resulted in Arab Christians being persecuted for not being Muslim, which could explain why Safie's mother was forced into being a slave.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Christians

    4. I heard of the difference of sexes, and the birth and growth of children, how the father doted on the smiles of the infant, and the lively sallies of the older child, how all the life and cares of the mother were wrapped up in the precious charge, how the mind of youth expanded and gained knowledge, of brother, sister, and all the various relationships which bind one human being to another in mutual bonds. "But where were my friends and relations? No father had watched my infant days, no mother had blessed me with smiles and caresses; or if they had, all my past life was now a blot, a blind vacancy in which I distinguished nothing. From my earliest remembrance I had been as I then was in height and proportion. I had never yet seen a being resembling me or who claimed any intercourse with me. What was I?

      Only after learning about the family unit, different sexes, and relationships does the creature realize that he has never experienced any of this. He has not encountered an individual who shares his appearance or resembles him whatsoever. This brings up self-discovery and he questions what he is. De Lacey is the father of Agatha and Felix and Felix and Safie are in love with one another, but the creature does not have parents or a lover. He learns alongside Safie from Volney's Ruins of Empires, about western civilization, hierarchy, and race. But Volney also prompts the idea of a desire for a mate in this text and it is likely that the creature learns to adopt this desire as well in order to have a sense of identity.

      Komisaruk, Adam. "'so Guided by a Silken Cord': Frankenstein's Family Values." Studies in Romanticism 38.3 (1999): 409. JSTOR.

    5. Volney's Ruins of Empires

      This refers to a radical work by Constantin François de Chasseboeuf, Comte de Volney called Les Ruines, ou méditations sur les révolutions des empires or The Ruins, or Meditations on the Revolutions of the Empires. This controversial work was published during the beginning of the French Revolution in 1791 and included many Enlightenment ideals. It also critiqued the paradigms and ideologies around the world, most notably Christianity. Percy Bysshe Shelley had a strong reaction to this text and responded by writing the poem "Queen Mab" in 1813.

      Mazzeo, Tilar J. "Volney, Constantin François de Chasseboeuf, Comte De 1751-1820." Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850. Ed. Christopher John Murray. London: Routledge, 2003. Credo Reference. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

    6. I had admired the perfect forms of my cottagers—their grace, beauty, and delicate complexions; but how was I terrified when I viewed myself in a transparent pool! At first I started back, unable to believe that it was indeed I who was reflected in the mirror; and when I became fully convinced that I was in reality the monster that I am, I was filled with the bitterest sensations of despondence and mortification. Alas! I did not yet entirely know the fatal effects of this miserable deformity.

      This paragraph is another allusion to John Milton's Paradise Lost, where Eve looks at her reflection in a lake and begins to discover her identity. Eve is also startled at her appearance at first but she realizes that she is looking at herself. The creature does the same thing here, though instead of being fair or attractive like Eve, he sees that he is frightening. This experience allows him to realize that he is in fact different from others.

      Komisaruk, Adam. "'so Guided by a Silken Cord': Frankenstein's Family Values." Studies in Romanticism 38.3 (1999): 409. JSTOR.

    7. Safie arrived from Constantinople to join him

      Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires and it is now present day Istanbul, which is located in north western Turkey. Both Safie and her father are from somewhere in Turkey.

      Image Description

      "Constantinople." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Credo Reference. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

      "Istanbul." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Credo Reference. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

    8. 'Good night sweet Safie.' He sat up much longer, conversing with his father, and by the frequent repetition of her name I conjectured that their lovely guest was the subject of their conversation.

      The name Safie could refer to an African talisman or amulet called saphie, which was a piece of paper with prayers from the Koran written on it. These saphies were thought to hold virtues and were often used for protection. Mary Shelley mentions in her journal that her and her husband Percy read Mungo Park's Travels in the Inferior Districts of Africa which described African culture, especially the influence of Islam there. Park's writings seem to have influenced Mary Shelley to include Muslims in Frankenstein.

      Neff, D. S. "Safie/Saphie: Mungo Park's “Travels In The Interior Districts Of Africa” And The De Lacey Episode In “Frankenstein”." Anq 21.1 (2008): 45. Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson). Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

    9. I distinguished several other words without being able as yet to understand or apply them, such as 'good,' 'dearest,' 'unhappy.'

      The first words the creature learns may be of some significance. In the previous lines, he learns the names of the cottagers and their labels but also "good," "dearest," and "happy." The cottagers to him are inherently good and also dear, but he notices they are unhappy and suffering from poverty and hunger. These words may also be able describe the creature himself. He wants to be good like the cottagers, not some sort of evil entity. He desires affection or someone to view him as dear. But because of his terrifying appearance, he will never be able to accomplish this and is left "unhappy."

    10. In one of these was a small and almost imperceptible chink through which the eye could just penetrate. Through this crevice a small room was visible,

      The creature is able to view the cottagers through this small crevice. While it is the creature's narrative, he ultimately tells the story of these cottagers and his narration of them acts as a framing device. Their story is within the creature's and his story is in turn within Victor Frankenstein's.

    11. Felix conducted the fugitives through France to Lyons and across Mont Cenis to Leghorn,

      Lyons is a city located in east central France. In the 15th century, it was a silk center in Europe, raising silkworms in order to create silk.

      Image Description

      Mont Cenis is an Alpine pass on the border of France and Italy.

      Image Description

      Leghorn refers to Livorno, a city on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy, which is known for its fishing industry and major shipyards. Leghorn is the anglican spelling of Livorno.

      Image Description

      Felix had led them from the eastern part of France, through the Mont Cenis pass, and down the coast of Italy to Livorno so the Turk could escape execution.

      "Lyons, City, France." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Credo Reference. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

      "Cenis, Mont." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Credo Reference. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

      "Livorno." The Columbia Encyclopedia. New York: Columbia University Press, 2015. Credo Reference. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

      "Livorno (Leghorn)." Thames & Hudson Dictionary of the Italian Renaissance , the. Ed. J. R. Hale. London: Thames & Hudson, 2006. Credo Reference. Web. 1 Dec. 2015.

    12. the unfortunate Muhammadan

      Muhammadan, or Mohammedan, means of or relating to Muhammad or Islam.

      The monster's narration refers to the Turkish merchant as a Muhammadan, indicating that the Turk is in fact Muslim.

      "Mohammedan." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015. http://beta.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mohammedan

  5. Nov 2015
    1. I heard of the discovery of the American hemisphere and wept with Safie over the hapless fate of its original inhabitants.

      The creature identifies with Safie because not only is she learning the language, but she helps the creature learn about the world. They both cry when hearing about the imperial expansion. They are learning about geography and the violence associated with empires expanding and in turn are also learning about race. This is important because Safie is a foreigner; she is Arabian and the creature is similar in that he is almost of his own race, a monstrous one. The things taught by Felix are what stays with the Creature and he thus has an understanding of racial supremacy and possession. His "deformity" makes him feel inferior and he lashes out at numerous points in the story due to this.

      Bugg, John. "'Master of Their Language': Education and Exile in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." Huntington Library Quarterly. 48: 4 (2005), 655-666. JSTOR.

    2. called her, as well as I could distinguish, his sweet Arabian. She did not appear to understand him, but smiled

      Here Shelley includes Orientalism with the introduction of Safie, an Arabian girl with whom Felix is in love. Orientalism is defined as the representation of the Orient, mainly the Middle East, in literature and art. Shelley would have definitely read Orientalist pieces written by Percy Shelley and Lord Byron and her inclusion of it here seems to be a response to the exoticizing nature of Orientalism. It also seems to be a pun on "Arabia Felix" which was the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.

      Lew, Joseph W. "The Deceptive Other: Mary Shelley's Critique of Orientalism in 'Frankenstein.'" Studies in Romanticism. 30: 2 (1991), 255-283. JSTOR.

      "orientalism, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 17 November 2015.

    3. It was as the ass and the lap-dog; yet surely the gentle ass whose intentions were affectionate, although his manners were rude, deserved better treatment than blows and execration.

      The creature describes himself as a mixture of a donkey and a lap-dog, noting that while donkeys are rude and tend to be uncouth, he means well. The mention of the lap-dog indicates that he is affectionate and simply wants to be shown kindness rather than the violence and denouncing he has been met with before when encountering people.

    4. I ought not to make the attempt until I had first become master of their language, which knowledge might enable me to make them overlook the deformity of my figure

      The creature hopes that his mastery of language will be compensatory for his terrifying appearance, which relates to somewhat to eighteenth to nineteenth century slave narratives where slaves wished to read what their master could read. This is seen in Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s "Trope of the Talking Book" which includes the narrative of James Gronniosaw, a slave who spoke about his curiosity and desire to be able to read and how perplexing it was to watch books "speak" to his master.

      Bugg, John. "'Master of Their Language': Education and Exile in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein." Huntington Library Quarterly. 48: 4 (2005), 655-666. JSTOR.

    5. but it was dry; and although the wind entered it by innumerable chinks, I found it an agreeable asylum from the snow and rain.

      As the creature travels, he continues to look for warm and dry places to shelter him from the elements. The creature seeking a warm shelter also parallels his desire for warmth from others. In other words, he desires kindness and sympathy from others but is constantly met with fear and anger, for example when he is driven away by the villagers who thrown stones at him towards the beginning of this paragraph. This fear and anger could be represented by the cold and the rain and snow he experiences.

      Britton, Jeanne M. "Novelistic Sympathy in Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein.'" Studies in Romanticism. 48: 1 (2009), 3-22. JSTOR.

    6. My sensations had by this time become distinct, and my mind received every day additional ideas. My eyes became accustomed to the light and to perceive objects in their right forms; I distinguished the insect from the herb, and by degrees, one herb from another. I found that the sparrow uttered none but harsh notes, whilst those of the blackbird and thrush were sweet and enticing.

      The idea of tabula rasa, or blank slate, seems to be related here. John Locke's idea that everyone's mind began as a blank slate seems to pair with the creature's gradual discovery of the world around him. Mary Shelley read Locke and she uses this idea to develop the creature. His experience of nature allows him to learn more about the world like distinguishing different plants from one another and which birds make certain sounds.

      Malchow, H. L. "Frankenstein's Monster and Images of Race in Nineteenth-Century Britain." Past & Present. 139 (1993), 90-130. JSTOR.

    7. I found a fire which had been left by some wandering beggars, and was overcome with delight at the warmth I experienced from it. In my joy I thrust my hand into the live embers, but quickly drew it out again with a cry of pain. How strange, I thought, that the same cause should produce such opposite effects!

      The Creature's naivety results in him finding out about the harm fire can pose. This passage foreshadows him burning down the cottage after his attempt at befriending the cottagers ends in disaster. It also alludes to the slave rebellions where slaves would murder whites and set fire to buildings, something a wealthy merchant named Bryan Edwards included in his history about the West Indies. The way the creature is abhorred by others and is troubled by their contempt could imply a parallel between him being racially different, specifically like a black slave.

      Malchow, H. L. "Frankenstein's Monster and Images of Race in Nineteenth-Century Britain." Past & Present. 139 (1993), 90-130. JSTOR.

    8. and it presented to me then as exquisite and divine a retreat as Pandemonium appeared to the demons of hell after their sufferings in the lake of fire.

      Pandemonium is the capital of hell which houses all demons in Paradise Lost by John Milton. Later on in the Creature's narrative, he mentions a number of books he found in the forest, one of them being Paradise Lost. Upon reading this, he identifies with Satan who is cast out of heaven because of his envy towards God. The creature views the hut like a refuge and compares it to the palace Pandemonium, which implies that the creature views himself to be demonic or deserving of being in hell.

      "pandemonium, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 16 November 2015.

      Lamb, John B. "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Milton's Monstrous Myth." Nineteenth-Century Literature. 47:3 (1992), 303-319. JSTOR.

    1. Chapters 11-14: The Creature’s first experiences and the Cottagers (Felix and Safie)

      Jessica Milewski

  6. Oct 2015
    1. It raised my hair, it fann'd my cheek   Like a meadow-gale of spring—   It mingled strangely with my fears,   Yet it felt like a welcoming.

      Coleridge uses a simile here to compare a seemingly supernatural wind with that of the wind in a meadow during the spring. This contrasts with where the Mariner is during these lines, since he is stuck on a ship at sea with a dead crew. To bring a meadow during spring into the poem connects this wind with the idea of something joyous and possibly of rebirth. After the Mariner's ordeals, he becomes a changed man and is more religious, which could be interpreted as a type of rebirth. Also the fact that it "felt like a welcoming" is also juxtaposed with the supernatural and frightening experiences the Mariner has.

    2. The harbour-bay was clear as glass,   So smoothly it was strewn!   And on the bay the moonlight lay, 475  And the shadow of the Moon.     The rock shone bright, the kirk no less   That stands above the rock:   The moonlight steep'd in silentness   The steady weathercock. 480  The angelic spirits leave the dead bodies, And the bay was white with silent light   Till rising from the same,   Full many shapes, that shadows were,   In crimson colours came.

      These twelve lines are not in their original orientation. An earlier edition of the poem published in 1798 have a number of lines included between each set of four lines. The lines that have been omitted here describe the reanimated bodies moving towards the mast of the ship and raising their right arms. Throughout lines 481-502 of the 1798 version, they are described as red shadows, their outstretched arms like torches, and their eyes glittering in the red light. Upon watching this, the Mariner is fearful and turns away and prays.

      (http://www.rc.umd.edu/sites/default/RCOldSite/www/rchs/reader/rime6.html)

      In this later version of the poem, the bodies are not described in great detail like the 1798 version. This omission makes the scene less frightening since it only describes the moonlight and the angelic spirits leaving the dead bodies.

    3. The lonesome Spirit from the South Pole carries on the ship as far as the Line, in obedience to the angelic troop, but still requireth vengeance.

      Here the text in the margin, or the gloss, points out that the spirit from the South Pole is forced by angelic spirits to move the ship. The ship is said to move to the Line, which is the equator, though previously the ship had been sailing southward. Lines 379 to 384 only say that the ship had been sailing on it's own and then a supernatural force takes over and propels the ship backwards and forwards in the next lines, but there is no clear indication as to where the ship is going. The gloss, however, provides a definite direction and it seems that Coleridge perhaps wanted to clarify this.

      The gloss also mentions that the spirit wants vengeance for the death of the Albatross. This could indicate the curse placed on the Mariner in which he has to tell his tale to the people he meets.

    4. As if through a dungeon-grate he peer'd   With broad and burning face.

      Coleridge uses a metaphor here to further describe the transparency of the ghostly ship. His use of the term "dungeon-grate" makes the appearance of the ship more ominous and foreshadows the chilling encounter the Mariner has with the supernatural. These lines also personify the sun, like the sun being a prisoner looking out from the bars of a dungeon.

    5.  'I fear thee, ancient Mariner!'   Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest:

      The line in quotations is the wedding guest interrupting the Mariner and saying that he is afraid. The Mariner responds to him in the next line by telling him to be calm. The shift of the speaker allows the reader to recall that the Mariner is at a wedding and telling this story to a wedding guest. In other words, this is a story within a story.

  7. Sep 2015
    1. While that inhuman trader lifts on high The mangling scourge. Oh ye who at your ease Sip the blood-sweeten'd beverage!

      scourge: A whip, lash. Now only rhetorical, with reference to the torturing of human beings, or to ascetic discipline.

      In these lines, Robert Southey illustrates the brutality experienced by slaves during the time of the Slave Trade. By describing the slave trader as inhuman and coupling that with the imagery of him lifting a whip, it creates the idea that this slave trader is monstrous. Additionally, Southey compares the bloodshed during the Slave Trade as a beverage that the traders sip. In other words, he is referring to the benefits reaped by the traders whenever they force innocent people into slavery. The dark imagery of the slave traders essentially drinking the blood of the slaves is very sinister and attempts to show the inhumanity and cruelty that these slave traders were exemplary of.

      "scourge, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press, September 2015. Web. 24 September 2015.

    1. Thro' the Hesperian gardens of the west

      The Hesperian gardens refers to the Hesperides from Greek mythology, who were three to four nymphs, daughters of Atlas, that resided in a garden and guarded an apple tree bearing golden apples of immortality. This garden was located in the far west and thus the Hesperides are also referred to as the 'nymphs of the west.'

      Barbauld's inclusion of this reference to the Hesperides creates a mystical atmosphere in terms of describing the sunset and closure of the day. Her many references to other mythological figures also accomplish this.

      "Hesperides, the." Bloomsbury Dictionary of Myth. Kenneth McLeish. London: Bloomsbury, 1996. Credo Reference. Web. 24 Sep 2015.

      "Hesperides." Who's Who in Classical Mythology, Routledge. Michael Grant and John Hazel. London: Routledge, 2002. Credo Reference. Web. 24 Sep 2015.