Question

Wordsworth's poem Peter Bell was written as a reply to which of Coleridge’s works?

• A. Kubla Khan
• B. Christabel
• C. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
• D. Dejection: An Ode

Answer 1

Answer:

C. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798) is a supernatural ballad about guilt, punishment, and redemption, centered around an old mariner who kills an albatross and faces severe consequences. Wordsworth, however, was not entirely convinced by the poem’s fantastical elements. In response, he wrote Peter Bell (composed in 1798, published in 1819), a narrative poem that presents a more realistic and moralistic take on transformation and redemption. The story follows Peter Bell, a wicked and materialistic man, who undergoes a moral awakening through nature’s influence.