Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," written in 1797, has been widely discussed throughout literary history. Although critics have come up with many different interpretations of this poem, one idea that has remained prevalent throughout these discussions is the apparent religious symbolism present throughout this poem. "The Ancient Mariner" contains natural, gothic, and biblical symbolism; however, the religious and natural symbolism, which coincide with one another, play the most important roles in this poem (Piper 43). It is apocalyptic and natural symbolism that dominates the core of this poem (43).
The biblical symbolism found in this poem mainly reflects the apocalypse, as it deals with the Mariner's revelation that good will triumph over evil, and
his acceptance of all nature as God's creation. It is impossible to believe that Coleridge was not thinking of the mysterious wind that blows on the Mariner, without any awareness of the wind as a Biblical symbol of the Holy Spirit. Coleridge could also not associate the murder of the albatross with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. The reader is told that the Polar Spirit "loved the bird that loved the man who shot him with his bow." It is doubtful that someone with Coleridge's Christian background and faith could fail to see here an analogy with God who loved his son who loved the men that killed him.
Another example of symbolism is the fact that the albatross is hung around the Mariner's neck like a crucifix. Event the "cross" in "cross-bow" hints at the murder of Jesus, which logically paces the albatross as a symbol for Christ. It is thought that Coleridge deliberately created these symbols and images with Christian meaning in mind. The apocalypse is heavily reflected upon throughout this poem as Coleridge combined the vivid colors, the ocean, and the death fires of "The Ancient Mariner" with the terror and desolation of the days of wrath in the apocalypse. The section of the poem after the Mariner kills the Albatross is a description of the emptiness and desolation that the Mariners experience, and the curse that is over the ship. This section of the poem has tremendous correspondence to the apocalyptic story. The language and form in this part of the poem represent the images and words, which have traditionally described the wrath of God and the guilt of man in Christian terms. Its is at this point in the poem that the Mariner feels guilty for having killed the Albatross and for the deaths of his shipmates.
In the 1798 and the 1817 text of the, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, There are certain changes. Changes that effect the poem and the way that the reader sees the poem. Some of these changes include reading devices called glosses. There are many reasons for the glosses to be put into the poem. One of the reasons is to help the reader interpret lines in the poem that can be confusing. These glosses are a brief interpretation of the stanza, so that the reader will understand it the way that Coleridge intended them to. An example of this is:
First of all, both symbols used in these poems can be compared according to their appearance. Both the raven and the albatross are birds. The albatross is described as a huge bird that soared over the ship as almost a godly symbol. The raven on the other hand is black as the night and has eyes that pierce into the soul. It also had a ghastly grim look to it that almost predicted something ominous. When this raven comes to the main character in The Raven, he is immediately frightened because of the stereotype of black birds bringing an evil omen.
The significance of sighting the Albatross represents the first living creature the crew has seen, while stranded in the barren South Pole. When the Mariner shoots the bird, he is faced with judgements passed by his crewmates and natural obstacles that occur for minor periods, punishments passed by god are done mentally...
Many times, stories by Ernest Hemingway have much religious influence and symbolism. In The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway, numerous occurrences in the life of Santiago the fisherman are similar to the incidents recorded in the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The names of the characters translated from Spanish to English are just one of those many similarities.
In The Song of the Sea, Exodus 15:1-18, Moses and the Israelites praise God as both protector of his people and punisher of those who do not follow the words of the Lord. The song tells a story of the omnipotent force and marvelous power of God in the destruction of the Egyptians, who did not obey the Lord of the Israelite. In Exodus 15: 4 Moses says, “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea”. Egypt was a strong and powerful empire, however the might of mankind’s weapons stood no chance to the might of God, who created man and the sea he vanquished Pharaohs men to drown in. This line illustrates the violence and wrath that can ascend upon those who disobey God and
First of all the Raven symbolises a bad omen and the Albatross symbolises a good omen. The mariners on the ship in Rime of the Ancient Mariner, see the Albatross and immediately their spirits are uplifted. “At length did cross an Albatross, thorough the fog it came; as if it had been a Christian soul, we hailed it in God’s name.” (Lines 63-66) These lines show that the mariners praised the Albatross and saw it as a sign or a gift from God. According to Tyler Wright, “Sailors have always been superstitious, they are some of the most superstitious people in the world. The Albatross is one of many animal superstitions that sailors have and it is one of the more serious ones.” In contrast the Raven traditionally symbolises a bad omen. “Ravens are seen as evil birds, or birds of the devil. The Raven in Poe’s The Raven is exactly that, and it gives the poem an ominous feeling.” (Jacob Calvin).
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.
To begin with, the killing of the albatross signified the love that Christ had among his people, and the execution he was forced upon in order for the hope of reassurance of his people. “Is it he? quoth one, “Is this the man? By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low The harmless Albatross. The spirit who bideth by himself In the land of mist and snow, He loved the bird that loved the man Who shot him with his bow.” (Lines 398-405). Samuel Coleridge dignifies the crucifixion of Jesus Christ with the execution of the albatross. Religious symbolism reflects the apocalypse meaning throughout the killing of the albatross.
Nature is the force in this poem that has power to decide what is right or wrong and how to deal with the actions. 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.
...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.
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.
However, in the two works by Coleridge, the imagination takes on different roles in each world. In the Ancient Mariner, the imagination is the substance that holds all life together, much like how the millio...
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 ...