Examine Coleridge's handling of supernaturalism in The Rime of The Ancient Mariner.

                  Coleridge's supernaturalism is refined.He tries to create supernatural effects mostly out of the natural. He produces a sense of horror in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner not by a direct and crude description but by employing symbolical and psychological methods. He makes the supernatural as a psychic phenomena. The sea-horrors in the poem are presented not directly but through the mental states of the Mariner. Coleridge simply describes the effect of the horror in the face upon the pilot's mind: " I moved my lips the pilot shrieked/ and fell down in a fil." Again, instead of describing the horrible spectre woman the poet refers to the effect of that horrible sight upon the mind of the Mariner and says that fear sipped his life-blood.

             The greatness of Coleridge as a supernatural poet lies chiefly in the technique by and convincing through his poetic theory 'willing suspension of disbelief'. There are a number of incredible and fantastic incidents and situations in the poem the manner of the death of all the sailors excepting the Ancient Mariner is supernatural, the dead body of the Albatross automatically falls down from the Ancient Mariner's neck into the sea, moving of the ship upon the sea without a wind, the spectre woman and her deathmate, the coming back to the life of the ships crew and the polar spirits talking to the another. With these supernatural incidents the poet has artistically woven real and convincing pictures of natural phenomena like the sun shining brightly at the outset , the mist and snow surrounding the ship, the angelic spirits' coming out of the dead bodies and appearing in their own forms of light is an other-worldly touch: "Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat/ And by the holy rood/ A mass all light, a searaph-man,/ On every corse there stood." This few some of the real and the supernatural brings about the suspension of disbelief and lulls our critical and rational spirit  of query at rest. 

            The appearance of life-in-death is the most fearfullest thing in the poem as it keeps shuddering the soul of a man's heart: "Her lips were red, her looks were free/ Her locks were yellow as gold;/ Her skin was as white as leprosy/ The nightmare life-in-death was sheshe, who thicks mans blood with cold." The agony and the spiritual torture of the lonely Ancient Mariner on the wide 'painted sea' where he neither could pray nor die, are perhaps the most terrifying elements in this narrative: "I looked upon the rotting sea,/ And drew my eyes away/ I looked upon the rotting deck,/ And there the dead man lay..."

             Coleridge do not describe unpleasant details but he simply suggests. thus he appeals to the imagination and not to the senses. Coleridge's elevation as a poet of supernaturalism lies in suggestiveness, in creating the atmosphere of mystery and indefiniteness by subtle suggestions as in the following lones: 

              "Water, water, everywhere/ And all the boats did shrink/ Water, water everywhere / Nor any drop to drink."

              In The Ancient Mariner the ecents are natural, but behind them lies a supernatural world. The thoughts which Nature's powers awaken in a sensitive soul are believed by Coleridge to have corresponding existence which derive there being from nature. As a supernatural poet Coleridge also introdjce the new idea of feeble will dominated by a stronger and is made to listen his to his tale. He makes an atrempt to break away but the Mariner with a superior will power holds him in thrall.

           Thus The Rime of The Ancient Mariner is a wonder of beauty in the realm of the spernatural.  Coleridge's treatment of the supernatural is quite different from the Gothic Romancers of the 18th century.This poem is the fine instance of the idea of supernaturalism and Coleridge handled it very simly.