Theme Of Guilt In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Shame On You, Mariner!

In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Coleridge, there is a Mariner who kills an almighty Albatross. It just so happens to be that the creature is extraordinary. It symbolizes all of Nature and everything that comes with its glory. However, the Mariner did not think of his actions, and shot the bird killing it without motive. The events that happened thereafter, were unthinkable. The Mariner would remain the rest of the story tortured continuously causing guilt. Therefore, the holiness of the Albatross and guilt in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner causes the poem to be laced with pathetic fallacy.

“Samuel Taylor Coleridge is thought to have come up with the idea of writing about a sailor who is becalmed at

“The man hath penance done, And penance more will do” (Coleridge). This quote is stated from Coleridge 's poem, exhibits the guilt of the Mariner after slaying the albatross. The Mariner 's own sense of guiltiness is enhanced through the aftermath he faces in the physical world, as a result of the powers of the metaphysical world. That is, the powers of the spirits in the poem, allow for severe contrasts in the physical world, which in relation to the Mariner 's sense of guilt, are reflective of his own unsettled mind. “...more horrible than that...I saw that curse, And yet I could not die” (Coleridge). “She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven, That slid into my soul” (Coleridge). The Mariner feels responsible for his crew 's suffering (along with himself) as the penalty for killing the innocent Albatross. The Mariner is punished by being forced to watch his crew be released and knowing he must suffer further (he must suffer alone): "The souls did from their bodies fly, They fled to bliss or woe! And every soul, it passed me by, Like the whizz of my cross-bow” (Coleridge). This starts with the Mariner 's deprivation of natural elements through the deprivation of food and water. "Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink" (Coleridge). The Mariner and his ship crew are made to bear the heat of the sun when the ship comes to a halt, the breeze stops and intensifies the sun 's heat. "Down dropt the breeze, the sails dropt down..." "All in a hot and copper sky, The bloody sun at noon" (Coleridge). The Ancient Mariner also is punished mentally by the spiritual world. The Ancient Mariner 's physical and mental punishment continues and he becomes the living dead. The Mariner is forced to feel the ceaseless pain and has the constant urge to tell others (who he knows must hear his story)