Copy Book Archive

The Music of Silence In Coleridge’s epic poem, the Ancient Mariner, amid the horrors of a ship of dead men, sees a sight both beautiful and surreal.
1798

US National Archives and Records Administration, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain image. Source

About this picture …

The rigging of a sailing ship is silhouetted against the night sky of Alaska, USA.

The Music of Silence
The Ancient Mariner has wantonly killed an albatross, and brought death and destruction on his ship. Surrounded now by the dead bodies of the crew, a new and ghostly sight meets his eyes.

EACH corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,
And, by the holy rood!
A man all light, a seraph-man,
On every corse there stood.

This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
It was a heavenly sight!
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;

This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
No voice did they impart—
No voice; but O, the silence sank
Like music on my heart.

Précis

Coleridge’s ancient Mariner sees angels or spirits rise on the dead bodies of the ship’s crew. The vision is eerie, but it is nevertheless beautiful. The spirits do not fill him with terror: their wordless salute moves him deeply, as if it had been heavenly music. (46 / 60 words)

Source

From The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).

How To Use This Passage

You can use this passage to help improve your command of English.

IRead it aloud, twice or more. IISummarise it in one sentence of up to 30 words. IIISummarise it in one paragraph of 40-80 words. IVMake notes on the passage, and reconstruct the original from them later on. VJot down any unfamiliar words, and make your own sentences with them later. VIMake a note of any words that surprise or impress you, and ask yourself what meaning they add to the words you would have expected to see. VIITurn any old-fashioned English into modern English. VIIITurn prose into verse, and verse into prose. IXAsk yourself what the author is trying to get you to feel or think. XHow would an artist or a photographer capture the scene? XIHow would a movie director shoot it, or a composer write incidental music for it?

For these and more ideas, see How to Use The Copy Book.

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