Rime Of The Ancient Mariner Research Paper

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of the better works to illustrate Nature in the Romantics that we have studied thus far. In this story, retribution comes in natural phenomena. After catching the wedding guest’s attention, he begins his story of the treacherous voyage. The story begins with the Mariner and his crew on a trip, when the “STORM-BLAST came, and he was tyrannous and strong.” Before they knew it, “The ice was here, the ice was there, the ice was all around.” Out of the fog, they spot an albatross flying, which was thought to be a spiritual creature in which they “hailed it in God’s name”. Here, we are able to see nature from the beginning, and how it remains the center theme.

Whereas, the bird had once been a good thing, the mariner now considered it to be a burden, so he shot it with his cross bow. He assumed the weather may get better now that the bird is dead. Even though his crew cursed his actions immediately, when the fog dispersed, they too praised his killing of the bird. Nevertheless, the sea began to look “slimy” with “slimy things” and the water was everywhere without a drop to drink. As a result of his actions, the crew hung the albatross on the Mariner’s neck as a

Death, or the “wages of sin”, won all but the Mariner, and he was forced to sail the cursed sea alone. When he tried to pray, he couldn’t, for he was suffering consequences for his hate against nature. Due to the fact that his previous choices with nature came with such retribution, when he was confronted with sea snakes, he chooses to bless them instead. In doing so, he was finally able to pray again. Finally, when he changes his heart, the albatross fell from his neck, and he was washed from his iniquities. Because he showed love to nature, naturally, his punishment is lessened, and he was no longer covered