The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Frame Story 1 key example

Part I
Explanation and Analysis—The Wedding :

The frame story in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner serves as a narrative device to contextualize the main tale told by the Mariner. The poem begins with the Wedding Guest, a man who is on his way to a joyous celebration. In Part I, he tries to escape having to listen to the Mariner's tale:

The wedding-guest here beat his breast,

For he heard the loud bassoon.

The Bride hath pac'd into the Hall,

Red as a rose is she;

Nodding their heads before her goes

The merry Minstralsy.