The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
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Real Identity: Not Applicable
Appearances (JLU): To Another Shore
Powers/Skills: Literature
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The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere, better known as The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, is the longest major poem of the British poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It was written in the period of a year and published in the 1798 first edition of Lyrical Ballads. The implementation of literary techniques such as personification and repetition are what led many to conclude this poem marked a shift into the genre of modern poetry and also, the British Romantic movement. There is no definitive reason for what inspired Coleridge but many point to other maritime accounts of explorer James Cook, sea captain Thomas James, or a clergy man named John Newton. Others believe literature such as "A Voyage Round The World by Way of the Great South Sea" (1726), The Flying Dutchman, and The Wandering Jew were his inspiration. Nevertheless, in the tale, the Mariner goes on a long voyage and loses his crew. The Mariner is consumed with guilt and wanders the planet to tell his story to those who would listen.
In the 21st century, the Justice League Unlimited prevented the Legion of Doom from taking the body of the Viking Prince and reverse engineering his invulnerability. Seeing a similarity between the Prince and the Mariner, Wonder Woman recited the Rime during a funeral pyre in space as the Viking Prince was sent into the Sun. Inspired, J'onn Jonzz took leave of the League in order to connect with the people of Earth.