In the line, 'The Western wave was all aflame', the 'Western wave' refers to the sea. But is it this simple? What do forms of substitution, synecdoche (a figure of speech in which the name of a part is used to stand for the whole) for example, lend to this magnificent and shadowy poem?

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/samuel-taylor-coleridge-the-rime-of-the-ancient-mariner-and-poetic-technique

Gresham College has been giving free public lectures since 1597. This tradition continues today with all of our five or so public lectures a week being made available for free download from our website. There are currently over 2,000 lectures free to access or download from the website.

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