The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has a complex and varied mood that evolves throughout the poem. At the start of the poem, there is a sense of foreboding and eeriness. The Mariner stops the Wedding Guest and "holds him with his glittering eye" as he begins his tale with an intensity that sets a mysterious and somewhat ominous mood. In the following sections, as the Mariner narrates his harrowing experience at sea, there is a prevailing mood of isolation and desolation. The crew's suffering, the curse imposed on the Mariner, and the eerie calm of the ocean contribute to a sense of loneliness and despair.
The mood further develops to encompass descriptions of nature's beauty and cruelty, especially in descriptions of the albatross. When the albatross first appears, there's a shift to a more positive and awe-inspired mood as the majestic bird follows the ship. Even the descriptions of the storm that tosses the ship are beautiful, and in Part I the Mariner cajoles the stranger:
Listen, Stranger! Storm and Wind,
A Wind and Tempest strong!
For days and weeks it play'd us freaks–
Like Chaff we drove along.
However, this mood turns to horror when the Mariner shoots the albatross, and nature responds by cursing him. After the albatross's death, the arrival of Death and Life-in-Death introduces a supernatural element to the mood. The imagery becomes otherworldly and mysterious, contributing to a sense of the spiritual consequences of the Mariner's actions.
Toward the closing stanzas, as the Mariner reflects on his experience and expresses a deep sense of contrition, the mood becomes slightly more optimistic as the poem hints at the possibility of repentance and redemption. The albatross falls from around the Mariner's neck, symbolizing a form of spiritual liberation. From the first line to the last, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner navigates a range of moods, from the eerie and ominous to the spiritual and redemptive, creating a rich and emotionally complex narrative.
