The final edition of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner reflecting the author’s intended changes was published posthumously in 1834. Coleridge died on July 25th, 1834 of heart failure and an undiagnosed, unknown lung disease–potentially caused by his opium addiction. The 1834 text, pictured below, is used is most contemporary teachings of Coleridge’s iconic poem. It is the text with the most scholarly authority; a claim supported by its status as the last documentation of Coleridge’s authorial intent for his poem.
As mentioned in our rationale, The Rimes of the Ancyent Marinere propose an argument in favour of “the most authoritative version of a work [as] the earliest rather than the latest.” (“The Multiple Versions of Coleridge’s Poems: How Many ‘Mariners’ Did Coleridge Write?” 127).
That being said, we encourage an initial read-through of the 1798 edition of The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere before indulging the 1834 edition.
