The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan

Two Poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (New Classics Series)

By: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Narrated by: Jason Rosette

Length: 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

Two literary masterpieces by Samuel Taylor Coleridge: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan"

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge are brought to listeners here as part of the New Classics series by Camerado Media. This edition is narrated by award-winning producer-narrator Jason Rosette, with audio mastering by producer-musician Gone Marshall for an enhanced listening experience.  

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner": A timeless supernatural tale of the sea, this is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and was written between 1797-98 and published in 1798. It is often considered a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British romantic literature.

"Kubla Khan: Or, a Vision in a Dream: A Fragment" is a pioneering, psychedelic romantic tour de force, which was completed in 1797 and published in 1816. According to Coleridge's preface to "Kubla Khan", the poem was composed one night following an opium-influenced dream, after reading a work describing Xanadu, the summer palace of the Mongol ruler Kublai Khan. He left the poem unpublished until 1816, when, at the prompting of Lord Byron, it was published.

About the author: Samuel Taylor Coleridge (21 October 1772 - 25 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets.

He also shared volumes and collaborated with Charles Lamb, Robert Southey, and Charles Lloyd. He wrote the poems "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and "Kubla Khan", as well as the major prose work Biographia Literaria. His critical work, especially on William Shakespeare, was highly influential, and he helped introduce German idealist philosophy to the English-speaking culture.

Public Domain (P)2020 Camerado Media / Jason Rosette

A Classic Given a Spirited Reading

This "Ancient Rime" is also modern in that it helped usher in the modern/Romantic literary movement around 1800 and in its contemporary theme of appreciation and protection for all creatures great and small. Thankfully, the narrator in this rendition, Jason Rosette, does not simply read these revered words, but breathes life into them by inhabiting the lively voices of the dramatic narrative. "Rime" was perhaps inspired by seafarers' tall tales of fantastic journeys to the ends of the world. It begins when a wedding guest is stayed from a marriage feast by a stranger driven to tell his mesmerizing tale of survival and spiritual renewal.

Coleridge done right

I was in the mood to hear a couple classic poems from Samuel Coleridge, and was truly impressed with this audio version of “The Rime of The Ancient Mariner”, and “Kubla Khan”. Audiobooks of great literature can be sunk with inferior narration, but this one is really transportive thanks to the narrator’s excellent reading. Each word is brought to life with care and purpose- care not to overwhelm the original text, but really enhancing the words of Coleridge. Well done.