Richard Burton reads S.T. Coleridge's 'The Rime of the ancient Mariner' - Upload 1/3 

We just read this in my English class... I think I'm the only person who really loved and appreciated it. It's sad that kids these days don't care about beautiful poetry like this...

Burton's command of speech is a marvel to hear. He is a treasure.

This is far and away the best read version of this poem. Thank you for putting it up - these actors really know how to do it justice - Burton especially!

Burton was a master. And this is what I still remember from this poem. The only bits I memorized for some reason- Alone alone all all alone , Alone on a wide wide sea and never a saint took pity on my soul in agony- I have always been proud to have that with me thru the years. Been years since I read this. Thanks for the post.

I first heard this recording as a High School freshman in 1963 - the stentorian voice of that great Welshman, Burton, hypnotized me and I spent the next number of years trying to track down this recording...with the death of the LP it seemed impossible to find it...then one day I found it on a CD for sale in the UK - I bought it and just now found this on RU-vid...Thank you, my friend for getting, this into the public eye once again!!! CB in FL

A poem I read and heard at school, back in the 60's. I remember how I was captivated by Burton's voice. Brilliant.

Richard Burton's rendition!!!The best.

Great find, great find :) Burton was unmatchable in so many ways. Thanks for the upload.

Stunning - the best theatre voice.....ever.

Pure gold. Thanks for sharing this great find, mate!

I love Burton's voice. Perfect!

I love it! My old cassette school copy was worn & unlistenable. Thanks so much for the post. Richard Burton is brilliant!

In the 60s my father had a 33 rpm record of this narration, and I have never forgotten it. Burton's voice is almost overpowering in its passion and beautiful tone, rhythm and modulation. "Xanadu" and "Frost at Midnight" were on the B side, from memory.

I fear humanity will never be able to express to this detail

Even I, as a Dutch teen, heard this during my English class. Loved it, and still do!

We re doing this for A levels currently in class. But hearing it out loud, it's made me cry. Such a beautiful poem....

My senior high school English teacher played this on a recored player player in my class. I loved it. That was in 1970. I have always loved this poem.

Great Richard Burton, great presence on stage, screen and audio.

This is so incredibly beautiful. I am very happy you put this version on youtube! I thought I was the only one who appreciated it so much... Nobody can read the mariner like Burton. Thank you!

Like all classic literature, this works on many levels. It can be appreciated as a good old gory horror story, full of death and ghosts. It can be taken as a moral parable on the sanctity of life and the interconnectedness of all things and events. Or, my favourite interpretation, it can be seen as a study of the power of superstition, especially in extreme situations where rationality breaks down. With his ship stranded, our Mariner succumbs to despondency and dejection, which soon turns into neurosis and psychosis due to dehydration and the subsequent deaths of his shipmates. Sailors were noted for their fantastical notions. They all see the Mariner's gratuitous and cruel killing of the innocent albatross as the cause of their woes. Although cold logic tells us this cannot be so, we cannot help but be moved by their inference, and wonder indeed if there are such causes and effects in Nature. Should scruples be grounded by lore or myth? Is there trenchant truth within the murky mists of magic? Is there real power in signs, or are the eerie echoes in our minds only? This is beautifully read, especially by the magnificent Richard Burton. His gorgeously dark rich baritone is piquantly sweetened by his gently lilting Welsh accents. He modulates his voice and tempo perfectly, and creates the appropriate atmosphere with his brooding intensity. Pleasured praise to metrisch for sharing this macabre memoir.

Worthy rendition. One of my top five favorite poems. Bravo.

If the author, Coleridge, were alive today, we'd call him an 'opiod addict' lol. He was a famous consumer of opium. He even boasted that his poem about Kubbla Khan was an 'opium dream' which he could barely remember upon awakening. I agree with everyone else that Richard Burton has the greatest voice and accent of any actor I've ever heard. I'll always remember him in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf with 4 great actors, directed by Mike Nichols. The more that time passes, the more I realize how important the arts are.

THIS POEM TAKES MY HEART AWAYYYYYY

So mesmerising , read it decades back but Burtons rendition of it is astounding .

Thank you for sharing. Quite brilliant.

Thanks, metrics, great post. always wanted to read the book. would start and fail. Burton took me thru. thanks again.

Burton has such a captivating voice. He is my favourite on War of the Worlds. Iron Maidens Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, is a good listen also!

Thank you for make me hear and live and feel the see

Burton gets many well deserved comments, but it’s worth remembering that he is reading one of the most amazing poems in the English language. (Being Welsh and having been to the same school as Coleridge, I hope I’m not biased.)

Richard Burton's voice Is incantatory. Se are never tired of listening to It.

I'm doing this for English Literature for A levels at the moment, and at first I hated it, but after analysing it, I've found that it is so interesting! Thanks for uploading this :)

This is a cool rendering by three powerful actors on the timeless, almost scary classic

My favourite poet...The pains of sleep, Cristabel...just incredible

Super Heavy! Even all these years hence, a real treat indeed! For those with ears to listen. Cheers

I had to do virtually the same and can still recite it! I still read it at least once a year... a classic!

Wonderful, vivid memories from my school days.

Reply to Mike Prince-- You are quite right. The Wedding Guest is most definitely John Gielgud. His voice and manner of speaking are unmistakable. The BBC label is wrong.

how many are here because of Iron Maiden?

Many thanks!

May the Almighty Buddhist God Kannon bless you for these recordings -- you are giving a great gift to people from all over the world....

Great reading. I have the vinyl record with Ralph Richardson and large format book illustrated by Gustave Dore. All are good.

Audio begins at 00:50 seconds...

Three magnificent voices now gone, we are the losers as there will never be their like again.

Now it's possible to upload the poem as one video would it be possible?

Thank you very much for this!

how magnificent

@Mike1150GSA This is what I find on the net: quote This is the information for the original BBC broadcast (1965) Speaking of Poetry - PC Cards Burton reads The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, with Robert Hardy and John Neville. Ref: BBC WAC Tx 11.08.65 unquote Trust this solves the query

A fantastic reading of one of my favorite Romantic works. Thanks a megaton for the upload!

Hear the rime of the ancient mariner! See his eye as he stops one of three! Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests - stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea!

This is an awesome poem

Marvellous!

I did this in English class....1985.....I took maidens tape in for the class to listen to

Amazing.

First saw the Gustave Dore illustrations with the poem, then got a Dover book of his collected poems which is still here on my shelf. Coleridge also has great, but lesser known poems.

Amazing

Coleridge truly was a master of the Sublime

Thanks for posting.

wonderful stuff - thanks

Can a voice be mesmerising? If an voice can, it's Burtons. Though he does make parts of The Rime sound like they were written by Dylan Thomas.

I think that the wedding guest is definitely Hardy. Are some people confusing the parts read by the narrator, Neville? This is the best reading i've ever heard of this poem. Imagine how it would sound if it were read to us by Coleridge himself....!!

Burton's voice is silk cut...

Sorry Mike, it is John Neville, I have an original copy of this on tape regards

Great I loved this poem very scary but is about a voyage.

4:25 part 2 loved it

By The Eternal, Richard Burton could read the phone book and make it superb to hear!!!!😲😲😲

I listened to this in english class :3 such a interesting poem.

Well there are actually millions who do. The band iron maiden wrote a song about this poem and learned about it that way. i checked it out later and the poem is really good.

What a gem.

An excellent rendition, thanks for sharing but I think that the Wedding Guest is John Gielgud, not Robert Hardy.

I wanted to compare this to my other recordings of the poem, but I couldn't open it.

loved it !

Liked it a lot.

Or you can listen to Iron Maidens Rime of the ancient mariner

This is great

Por que a opção compartilhar sumiu do meu you tube?

@harley75604 So did mine in 1967. Still tears in my eyes.

please add the lyrics in the description box

I need to listen to this but so many big words for my very small mind

Wtf? Everyone in these comments gushing over the timbre in burton's voice? Is it of such charm as to obscure the genius in the words themselves and the supreme imagery? A curse on this benighted age.

So... this is just a music less cover of the iron maiden song right?

wow

no, it really isn't. This poem was written in 1797. The Iron Maiden song, which is based on the poem was released 1984.

Spellbound!

"Rime of the Ancient Marinere - Upload 1 of 3" lolz

Defiinitely Gielgud. But it needs the words on the screen.

Vintage, excellence..

It not people telling u the whole part of the highwayman poem

Alienation and reentry.

Some girls have 50 Shades. This is my 50 Shades. Burton is the sexiest man that ever lived.

Good voice

right on. teach em

rod bit a great shame , i read alone ?

OMG ... goosebumps. They don't make such men anymore.ALAS my sorry fate

If you might add a full reading of a few of the pulps such as the sinnister sphere a moon man adventure by Frederick c Davis and meet kid deth by raoul f Whitfield

A part of me died upon reading this comment :(

cool

The archetypal albatross hangs 'pon a neck still one of the most haunting poems of all times underwater Caribbean Heritage @lolleaves

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

NO SOUND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My head is just turning!How nonsense,people might Be! Last 10 days thousands of time saying! Living here for exact 50 years!!🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄Went to friends house! Check it out,at all if the Mall is open or not! Holi day! Everywhere it's a Holiday,closed! Unnecessary went! To see the close Shutter of That! Imagine! Why! Not properly made it sure it open or not! No! Let's go to Car! For far store! Never!!!I am feeling just Disgusted!! Feel like shout! Saturday,sunday! Not at ALL! Enough! For 50 years! I person Don't know wheather it's open or not!I never wanted to go! I said make sure if it's open or not! Yes,it is! And went other places to friends and relatives!How intolerable! Experience!Now,sorry! This and that,and what not! What should to Say!My headaches! My pending painting,I was looking at My Moon! Please,please bring Him Back! God🙏can tolerate anymore!Now!Movie Hall started till Midnight!! please,Bring My Moon,My Hmmhmm💝back! Can't live without Him,please Help rescue!! Refrigerator,brings Chimney!on My head! Chimney And Fireplace and Air purifier and Ro-uv!ooooooooooo,Cant tolarate! Need PEACE!