Beaten down by his ancient years, the Mariner tells the story of superstition, suspense, drama, and danger through Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In this 1798, poem, S. T. Coleridge vividly expresses the allegory of his poem through the symbolism of man’s human nature and the salvation of Christ. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an allegory which represents the natural and spiritual world of man, it also demonstrates the imprisonment and retribution of sin, and contains the symbolism of penance and redemption. Samuel Coleridge demonstrated physical and spiritual nature throughout his longest poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. To the Romantics going against nature was as immorality to God. In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Mariner shoots the albatross which symbolized a punishment of nature by way of the spiritual world. Throughout this poem, Coleridge describes the unrest of the ocean, a scorching sun, water-snake encounters and many other characteristics from a physical perspective. When the ship goes off course due to a dreadful storm the albatross leads them out of the dangerous conditions, however, the ancient Mariner quietly proclaimed, “With my cross-bow, I shot the albatross.” (lines 81-82). …show more content…
In Coleridge’s dynamic theme he shows that sin will always cause heartache and will receive punishment. The killing of the albatross brought penance, however; the Mariner soon discovered he needed to repent. When the mariner realized he could be forgiven, he said, “A spring of love gushed from my heart” (lines 284). When nature stirred the Mariner, he immediately realized that he had been forgiven by God and the albatross was released from the mariner’s neck. This creatively symbolized that Christ forgives everyone, no matter how great the sin is, so then we can continue living our lives under the guidance of
The reader might not understand how to interpret the stanza; they could interpret however they wanted to. Coleridge placed the glosses in so that the reader would understand the Mariner woke up and realized that he had done his penance. These...
The Mariner’s motivation to share his tale also demonstrates the repressive and psychological nature of the frame. As the Mariner recounts his experiences on the ship and his punishment for shooting the albatross, his tale becomes a parable about respecting the natural world. The Mariner conveys this moral to the wedding-guest in the end-frame of the poem, as he states, “He prayeth well, who loveth well / Both man and bird and beast […] For the dear God who loveth us, / He made and loveth all” (Coleridge 612-617). Here, the Mariner appeals to a divine authority, and directly correlates the order of nature with God’s will. In doing so, he warns the wedding-guest that to think oneself above nature– as he did when he shot the albatross– is to think oneself above God. However, while this is the moral understanding the Mariner wishes to pass on, imparting wisdom is not his only motivation. As the Mariner states,
Coleridge uses religious and natural symbolism, which correspond with one another and play the most important roles in this poem. Although there are many different interpretations of this poem, one idea that has remained common throughout the poem is that of the religious symbolism present. Especially that of Christ and his ability to save, which was present throughout this poem. The symbolism is that of the albatross. The albatross saves the Mariner for bad weather and keeps the sailors in
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is swollen with imagery of life, lifelessness, and death but not with any traditional descriptions. Coleridge is able to change the nature of death and life to fit his needs and the needs of his story. At the conclusion of the poem we the reader and the wedding guest are left “sadder and a wiser man” (Line 624) with lesson of what can happen if you are not good to your fellow creatures. While this moral holds true to the cause of the curse through the death of the Albatross it seems a strange ending to a much more morbid story. The blurring and crossing over of concrete concept is the real gift the reader is left to ponder. This talent for manipulation adds to the attraction of the poem and to the lengthened popularity of Coleridge’s works.
In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Coleridge, The Ancient Mariner is telling his story to a bypassing guest at the wedding, and he is describing the experience of being alone at sea surrounded by only water and his dead crewmates. Coleridge creates dramatic suspense and mystery in this passage through the uses of repetition, simile and imagery.
Although the albatross guides the crew safely through the sea, the mariner shoots it dead with a crossbow. This alludes to the way Jesus dies on the cross in order to allow abolition of the world 's sins. The allusion to the cross allows readers to again see the recurring allusion to Jesus and the biblical messages Coleridge presents. Another example of a biblical allusion in the poem includes Jesus’ disciples. Life and Life-In-Death play for souls of those of the ship and when Life-In-Death wins, she obtains the mariner and Death gets the souls of the crew. Death collects his prize and later on the crew begins to move and talk as if they are alive. Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost receive the gift of language. Therefore, the allusion Coleridge makes between the mariners’ crew and Jesus’ disciples displays how perspective relates to events that occur in the lives of individuals. The biblical allusions in “The Rime of the Ancient mariner” allow the mariner, as well as readers to realize the beauty of nature and everything surrounding it. The albatross allows for the realization that guidance and support come along and help in times of hardship that
The main theme of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem is to learn from your mistakes. After telling his tale to the Wedding Guest, the Ancient Mariner realized that the murder of the Albatross was a mistake and lived a life of penance. The act of murder was an impulsive act because the Mariner felt threatened by the Albatross their actions. The deaths of both birds brought about memories from both the Ancient Mariner and Hagar which they shared with other people, the Wedding Guest and Murray F. Lees. These memories help them to realize the mistakes they made. Through their own personal recollections, the Ancient Mariner and Hagar both achieved a better understanding of their lives and in turn were able to die with a sense of contentment and relief.
Overall “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is poem that seems like a simple story told by a sailor about his woes at sea. But Coleridge uses many details to make symbols throughout the story for the reader to interpret and see the connections between it and religion. Whether it be through the Christ like albatross, which most would just see as a simple bird, or the woman on the boat showing how the lifestyle might be fun but ultimate leads to nothing we see that these small details create a bigger story than what is just on the cover.
found in the ever-conflicting natural world. For example, in the ''Rime of the Ancient Mariner", the statement : ''water, water every where,/ nor any drop to drink'' is demontrative of this paradoxical irony. Such as the ''beauty and the happiness'' of the ''slimy things'' which the mariner notices whilst at sea. There is also a double meaning in the description of the mariner's soul, which includes the ambiguous word agony, as it can mean mental pain and pleasure. The reason for this double meaning is to symbolise the fact that the balance in nature is at the heart of the natural world, just as the soul of the mariner is to him. Both in imagery and style, these contrasts are equally balanced.
The mariner reconciles his sins when he realizes what nature really is and what it means to him. All around his ship, he witnesses, "slimy things did crawl with legs upon the slimy sea" and he questions "the curse in the Dead man's eyes". This shows his contempt for the creatures that Nature provides for all people. The mariner begins to find his salvation when he begins to look on the 'slimy things' as creatures of strange beauty. When "the mariner begins to find his salvation when he begins to look on the 'slimy things' as creatures of strange beauty" he understands the Albatross is a symbol of nature and he realizes what he had done wrong. The mariner is forgiven after sufficient penance. The mariner's experience represents a renewal of the impulse of love towards other living things. Once he reconciles his punishment is lifted. The bird, which is hung around his neck as a punishment, falls into the water and makes the change from punishment to penance.
...ous allegory represents Christian ideals such as sin, forgiveness, and prayer. In addition, Coleridge’s use of language and form contribute to the message conveyed in the text. The form fluctuates throughout the text by use of different rhyme schemes, loose meter, and stanzas in length varying four to nine lines. The variety of form could be representative the array of interpretations of this text. Coleridge conveys profound religious meaning by using symbolic language with interpretive representations. Although his use of elevated language possibly narrowed the audience, that could have been his intentions due to the complexities of this philosophical poem. In the end, Coleridge’s depiction of the Mariner’s journey ultimately conveys the Christian ideal, which is to love and appreciate all creatures created by God, whether Albatross or snake.
Undoubtedly, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of the best example of the inconsistencies of life. Moreover, the author writes with a distinctive purpose, that transcends ordinary literary thematic elements. Additionally, the author’s phrase and diction are infused with deeper meanings, that their surface denotations. Samuel Taylor Coleridge utilizes a conglomeration of literary structure to further exemplify his purpose or theme. For example, tone, setting, plot, etc. are used as supporting facets of the overall intent.
As the ancient Mariner described his adventures at sea to the Wedding-Guest, the Guest became saddened because he identified his own selfish ways with those of the Mariner. The mariner told the Guest that he and his ship-mates were lucky because at the beginning of their voyage they had good weather. The mariner only saw what was on the surface -- he did not see the good weather as evidence that Someone was guiding them. Also, when he shot the Albatross, the Mariner did not have any reason for doing so. The Albatross did nothing wrong, yet the Mariner thought nothing of it and without thinking of the significance of the act, he killed the bird. At this, the Guest was reminded of how self-absorbed he, too, was, and the sinful nature of man. At the beginning of the poem he was very much intent on arriving at the wedding on time. He did not care at all about what it was that the Mariner had to tell him; he did not want to be detained even if the Mariner was in trouble. Instead, he spoke rudely to the mariner, calling him a "gray-beard loon", and tried to go on his own way.
He has to feel a pain in his chest that becomes unbearable until he sees a certain soul that is the right one to tell. No matter what. In the long poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge has three lessons about human life: supernatural, pride, and suffering. In “Rime” by Sam Coleridge, the mariner goes through many supernatural events that scare him into submission. Coleridge does a great job of describing the scenery around the boat that the mariner resides in.
In discussing the symbolism of guilt in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", it is important to understand that in the eyes of the Romantics God was one with Nature. Because of this belief a sin against Nature was seen as a sin against God. In line 82 of the poem, the Mariner simply says, "I shot the Albatross." In saying this, the reader often questions why the bird was shot. There is no explanation. The Albatross was shot without reason or motive very much like the sin of humans. Here the poem begins to take on its allegorical purpose in which the Albatross symbolizes not only sin, but possibly Jesus as well. In Christianity, Jesus died upon the cross for the sins of humanity. He was punished in order for ...