The Intermedial Hermeneutics of Dore's Illustrations to Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: Plate #9 Nikolai Butler Persson College

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is without a doubt considered to be a lyrical masterpiece and a cornerstone in Coleridge’s writing career. The epic seven part poem was originally published in 1798 as a part of Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems collection. [1] Originally The Rime of the Ancient Mariner featured archaic language and was somewhat criticized for its ambiguous writing.[2] This in turn led to a revised version of the poem being printed in 1817. In his revisions Coleridge added marginal glosses to the poem which aid in guiding the reader’s interpretation of the work. Today it is the 1817 version of the poem that is the most prevalent, and it is this version that Gustave Doré created illustrated plates for in 1876. Doré made 38 plates depicting scenes from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner which were published in the 1876 edition.[3]

By adding illustrations to the poem new intermedial modalities were introduced. The poem by itself is descriptive and paints iconic imagery through its flowery lyrics, making good use of invoking the reader’s senses. Doré’s illustrations further enhance, primarily, the sensorial and semiotic modalities already present within the poem by adding physical iconic...