Ancient Mariner Superstition

Respect, Superstition, and Consequence
A Discussion of Messages in Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner

“In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences,” said political leader Robert Green Ingersoll. Samuel Coleridge is the author of the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” The author, Samuel Taylor Coleridge is known for writing about faraway places. The setting of his poems are often unusual and like a dream. On the way to a wedding, and old sailor stops the guest at the door with his hypnotizing eyes and starts to tell the guest a story about a journey he once took. The guest is interested in the party, but finds himself struggling to back away from the Mariner who killed an Albatross while attempting …show more content…
The Albatross proved it was a good omen after the ice had split while the shipmates were trapped in a severe storm. The bird followed the ship as if it were watching over the crew and protecting them from any harm. Clearly, the Albatross symbolized a godlike figure. In that moment, the Mariner was so caught up in the idea of the bird having any affect on the changes, therefore he shot the Albatross out of the sky. In the poem, the sailors yell out, “God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus!- Why look’st thou so?” (Lines 79-81) The Mariner then continues the story to the wedding guest saying, “With my crossbow I shot the Albatross.” (Lines 81-82) The Mariner uninhabitably killed the God-fearing bird of good …show more content…
The Mariner did a “hellish thing” which was killing the Albatross. The first consequence he faces is that the ship can no longer propel forward and any form of wind has come to a halt. When the sun comes up, the Mariner is alone and dying of thirst. The next consequence is when the ship of Death arrives and the old sailor’s soul is at stake, but instead the lives of every other shipmate was sacrificed, leaving the Mariner the only one left on the ship. He is left alone until he prays and is forgiven. “With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one. 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 crossbow!” (Lines 218-223) The Mariner spends the rest of his days in guilt and penance, forcing him to tell his story to anyone who will listen. There are three important messages in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Coleridge. The first message is that everyone should love and respect the importance of life and nature. The second message states how consumed in superstition the Mariner was when he killed the spiritual bird. The last message is that there are consequences one must pay for their foolish

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The Following Passage Comes From An Early Poem