The rime of the Ancient Mariner

“ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is a poem written in seven parts by Samuel Coleridge. It narrates the story of an ancient mariner who stops a wedding guest on his way to the reception. Although the wedding guest is eager to leave, the marine insists, and begins narrating a youthful story.  In this long and rough poem, Coleridge main theme is the frightening and fascinating natural world.  The ancient mariner talks about the sea, as if it had an indubitable power over all the mariners. Considering how the mariner describes the sea, it almost seems as if it is a character itself. When the ancient mariner murders the Albatross, nature decides to take revenge and teach him a lesson. The wind that permits the boat to move suddenly disappear, the heat from the sun increases tremendously, and no water is available on the boat “Water, water, everywhere, and all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink.”

The Albatross appearance is crucial to the poem. The sailors found themselves in a cold and unbearable place, “And now there came both mist and snow, and it grew wondrous cold” then unexpectedly, an Albatross emerges from the ice. The sailors interpret it as a sign of good luck, as if God was on their side “Thorough the fog it came; as if it had been a Christian soul, we hail’d it in God’s name”.  The Albatross is then killed by the ancient mariner; for no particular reason. One possible reason why the mariner would murder the Albatross is the idea that human beings are sinners. Considering the concept that the Albatross is contemplated as a divine being, individuals respect it but are not necessarily loyal to it. A valid example could be Judas Iscariot, who betrays Jesus and helps the authorities of Jerusalem arrests him. An animal that is respected, fed and admired is suddenly killed in a cruel and cold blooded way. There is no clear motivation behind the murder of the Albatross. The vicious act is meant to come off as an unjustified and uncalled action that has repercussions. It is doubtful that Coleridge had a specific motive of why the mariner kills the Albatross. 

The spirits come into play after the ancient mariner murders the Albatross. The first spirit is an indirect repercussion of the murder, and it is uncertain if it appears in the old sailor’s imagination or if it is real.  After suffering from thirst several days, the ancient mariner ends up being the only sailor alive on the boat.  The sailors got their soul taken away from them, and the ancient mariner is condemned of a life of living death.  The mariner is suffering, and cannot bear the sun and the thirst; he then decides to pray, and as a result he is able to sleep. After waking up from the sound of the rain, the boat finally moves. When the ship reaches the equator, it stops and starts moving back and forth. He then hears the first voice that accuses him of killing the 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” The spirit also proclaims that it loved the Albatross. The second voice seems to talk with the first one regarding the Albatross. It states that the ancient mariner will harshly pay for his crime: “The other was a softer voice, as soft as honey-dew: Quoth he, `The man hath penance done, And penance more will do.' The spirits represent the final judgment.  The mariner committed a sin and he is obliged to pay for it. He did not realize the gravity of the situation until the repercussions came into play. They serve to remind him that what he did was wrong. The killing of the Albatross has several consequences that the ancient mariner did not predict. The ancient mariner initially thought he was forgiven for his murder, but the reader realizes he is not.  His entire crew died of thirst he suffered from isolation and he is now condemned to live in a stage of life and death. The mariner’s encounter with the hermit is crucial. The mariner fears that the dead sailors will continue to haunt him for the rest of his life, he then believes that after all he has been through all his sins will finally be forgotten: “It is the Hermit good! He singeth loud his godly hymns that he makes in the wood. He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away The Albatross's blood."

 In several of his poems, Samuel Coleridge crosses the line between reality and fiction. In”Rime of the ancient mariner” the reader encounters multiple passages in which it is unclear if the mariner is describing what he really sees or just merely imagining things.  This technique is fascinating because it permits the character to picture things that challenge time and space. Another example would be “The lime tree bower my prison” a poem in which the main character cannot follow his friends in a journey. The character then imagines experiencing the journey. He recreates it completely with his imagination, and is then content as if he had actually experienced it. The moral here, is that nature is everywhere and you are able to experience it as you please.