Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
The title of the poem in the original Lyrical Ballads is actually "The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere." Few editors use this archaic spelling, but it shows how Coleridge deliberately tried to give the poem a dated feel. (Source)
Coleridge began to take opium, a drug made from the poppy flower, in the late 1700s. The drug gave him visions and made him feel content, but it eventually turned into a harmful addiction. (Source)
In 1817, Coleridge added small explanatory notes, called glosses, on the side of the pages of the text. These glosses said things like, "The Wedding-Guest heareth the bridal music; but the Mariner continueth his tale." We don't think the glosses are so helpful. And William Wordsworth didn't like them either. (Source)
Coleridge wrote The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, as well as "Kubla Khan" and "This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison" while living in Somerset, England in a village called Nether Stowey. It was one of the most productive times of his life. (Source)