Celtic Druidism and Other Pagan Traditions
There's no denying that Coleridge sprinkled lots of spooky stuff into the poem, but very little of it is random or solely atmospheric. The first part in particular is packed with very specific symb...
Pick a Number
When someone asks for some lemons, it's no big deal. However, when someone asks for, say, three lemons, it makes us wonder what those lemons might be for and why they would need such a specific num...
Ambiguity
One of the reasons why this poem can be difficult to get through is because Coleridge purposefully mixes up his symbols. He's not trying to make things difficult on purpose, though it may feel like...
The Snake & the Dove
This symbol only shows up a couple of times in the second part of the poem, but it's such an important and powerful one that we can't help but notice it. It's not terribly difficult to figure out w...
Bells, Bells, Bells
A bell may not be one of those symbols that is super-obvious, but there are so many in the poem that it's hard to ignore them. Overall, bells are a tool of communication. In many religions, they ar...