Quotes In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

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In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, Coleridge does not tell us why the mariner killed the albatross. By leaving this out, he suggests that it was a senseless act devoid of reason and respect for all things that God created, “both great and small” (272). As the mariner kills the bird after it has been friendly to him and has granted the crew and the ship a safe voyage thus far, by providing the reader with no explanation as to why he kills the albatross so suddenly, it is very surprising and cruel. As the bird seems to be an omen, “a Christian soul...hailed in God’s name” (258:65-66), when the mariner kills it, it is direct defiance of God.
After the mariner kills the albatross, a few days of travel follow, “...the good south wind still blew behind,/ But no sweet bird did follow,/ Nor any day for food or play/ Came to the mariners’ hollo!” (259:88-91). This stanza further implies the mariner’s lack of respect and …show more content…

However, quickly after his fellow sailors condemn him for killing the bird, things go awry and the albatross begins to be avenged. This section takes up the entirety of the poem and highlights the suffering which the mariner endures because he had shot the albatross. Only do his sufferings begin to end when starts to show respect and appreciation for nature and God’s creations: “Beyond the shadow of the ship,/ I watched the water-snakes...Within the shadow of the ship/ I watched their rich attire...O happy living things! No tongue/ Their beauty might declare:/ A spring of love gushed from my heart,/ And I blessed them unaware:/ Sure my kind saint took pit on my,/ And I blessed them unaware,” (263-264: 272-287). After the mariner perceives the beauty of the world, the albatross falls off his neck like lead, suggesting that the

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