Coleridges "the Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Coleridge's poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is written about a Mariner telling his tale of sin and forgiveness to a small group of young men on their way to attend a wedding. The Mariner claims to be responsible for the deaths of everyone on board of a ship he once sailed because he killed a creature that was supposed to bring them the wind they needed to resume sailing after hitting a plateau in the ship’s movement. Through the writing style in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Coleridge tries to convince the reader that the events told in the poem could possibly have been real, thus leaving the reader to partially believe the strange story and Coleridge is right to do so. The theme of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is God’s forgiveness. The Mariner believes that God has forgiven him for his sins and is telling his tale to the young men on their way to a wedding.

This poem follows an ancient mariner on an expedition across the sea when he slaughters an innocent being, an albatross and brings on a curse that affects him and his crewmen tragically. The tale ends with the ancient mariner repeating his tale to a wedding guest, who emerges a “sadder and wiser man” (Coleridge). These two stories seem dissimilar, but they share a prevalent theme, as shown when Mary Shelley alludes to this poem in Frankenstein throughout the novel. The allusion to Rime of the Ancient Mariner helps develop the theme of imprisonment by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a poem about a lone sailor who survives a disastrous voyage at sea. Believing himself to be responsible for this tragedy he dooms himself to recount his tale to strangers. The most common interpretation of this poem is the religious view of crime and punishment. Early in the poem the Mariner shoots an albatross a symbol of good luck. Since it is a moral wrong to shoot the albatross, for you are supposed to love “all things both great and small”, the crew eventually was punished.

'; Since the first time the Mariner confessed his crime to the Hermit at an inconsistent hour God reminds the Mariner of the sin he has committed by piercing his heart with agonizing pain. He tells the Wedding Guest that, until he tells his story, 'The heart within me burns. '; This is God's way of expressing his anger to the Mariner for the curse he put on his crew when he killed the Albatross. God makes sure that the Mariner has and will fell agony, that the agony will always return, and that the agony will return at an unsure hour each day which causes the Mariner to relive his tale and to live in agony for the rest of his life. The Mariner is granted relief from his agony by telling his tale which releases his agony for a short while.

Everything that happens next to the ancient mariner and his crewmates can be directly explained by his killing of the albatross. In this story the albatross symbolizes a relationship with God and how we can break it through human effects. Since the Mariner has been there

Also, he shows a sense of desperation for an answer because he sees himself as depraved. Taylor mentions, “Lord, hold Thy hand: for handle me Thou mayst In wrath: but oh, a twinkling ray of hope” (21). The importance of hope is important to Taylor because he doesn’t want to live in wickedness, he wants to flee from it. He accepts God’s sovereignty and for that purpose knows he is the only one that can redeem him. In the metaphysical poem, he also acknowledges his feelings of guilt when he realizes that God has resurrected meaning he never died.

Coleridge gives his readers reason to question etiological readings of this poem, and he may even give readers a reason to doubt his own explanations found in the glosses. However, reading the poem with reservation does not take away from the power of the poem.. The Mariner is striving to understand the religious significance of his assault on the albatross, while dealing with the problems that an assertion of the self can lead to. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a story of a man struggling with sin, guilt, and isolation, and trying to understand if they relate, and if so, how they relate.

The first way and probably the most drastic in which the spirits punished the Mariner were through the actions of Mother Nature. As soon as the bird was killed the wind that propelled the ship became still. It wasn’t long before the Mariner realized the consequences of his actions, “for all averred, I had killed the bird that made the breeze to blow.”, then suddenly “down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down, Twas sad as sad could be; and we did speak only to break the silence of the sea!” (35). Since the Albatross was a gift from t... ... middle of paper ... ...ny. The only way for the Mariner to ease his pain is by telling others his story, which at that point he begins feels alive again.

Religion lies at the heart of the poem, focusing on the trials and tribulations of man, depicting a moving spiritual journey of sin, punishment, repentance and eventual redemption. In murdering the albatross the Mariner commits a terrible sin. The bird brought with it Southerly winds to lead the straying ship out of the Antarctic, after it had been driven off course by a storm. Flying alongside the ship, the albatross held only the good intention of helping the ship finds its way back on track. The mariner’s sin is fundamentally unpremeditated and unfounded, and in committing a crime against nature, he is essentially committing a crime against God, the creator of all nature and life.

Starting with the wedding scene, the Mariner is described very vividly, “By thy long grey beard, and glittering eye…” (Coleridge pg 937). As the third sentence of the poem, Coleridge makes sure that the reader is able to envision the face of the Mariner. After the Mariner kills the Albatross, Life-in-Death was there for revenge“Her lips were red...looks were free...locks were yellow as gold: her skin was as white as leprosy” (Coleridge pg 942). Not only does this paint a very stark picture of what is going to happen, this helps the reader visualize the Mariners consequence for killing the Albatross. With this poetic device, Coleridge helps the reader imagine the story in their mind 's eye and connect with the repercussions of the Mariners mistake.