We’re one poem in to Lyrical Ballads and by god is it a wild one! We’re reading through and contemplating Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” (1798 spelling), one of the weirder gothic poems in the English language and one hell of a way to start a poetic project. Why would a mariner shoot an albatross with a crossbow? Why would a mariner even have a crossbow? We try to get to the bottom of these mysteries as we begin dipping our toes into this watershed volume of Romantic poetry.

The Canon Ball is part of the Agora podcast network. Check out some of the other shows on the network like Ben Jacobs’ From Wittenberg to Westphalia, a full exploration of the Protestant Reformation. Ben examines all of the nitty gritty details of the history, theology, politics, and even the civic planning that went into the transformation of Europe from Catholic dominance to, well, whatever it was that came after.

If you’re online check us out at thecanonballpodcast.wordpress.com, find us on Facebook @TheCanonBallPodcast, and on Twitter @Canonballpod. And if you or a kid in your life need English tutoring, SAT tutoring, or college essay help drop us a line at claudemoinc@gmail.com. Claude could use the money…

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