Noelle Yanuzzi
Professor Yohannes
Lit 208
October 2014
The Redemption of Sin Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a great read, because the poem delivers many great morals. The reader understands the complexity of the poem mostly due to Coleridge’s use of rich symbolism. Coleridge’s use of symbolism intersects with the morality of his poem The intersection of these two things give the reader a better understanding and grasp on the morals of the poem. By using the intertwining of the two it makes the ideas more tangible and repeatable to the reader The first intersection of morality and symbolism is when the ancient mariner shoots the albatross. The reader can see this first point of morality come into play in the beginning when the mariner says that he shot the albatross. The Mariner states that the albatross “ had been a Christian Soul, we hailed it in God’s name.”(Coleridge 65-66) His statement of this helps support that the albatross is a creature of God and is something pure. Since the albatross is God’s creature there is an underlying law that it shouldn’t have been killed. This statement helps foreshadow the next intersection as well as what is about to occur after the albatross is killed. After the mariner kills the albatross, the mariner as well as his crew, start to go through terrible things as a result of the mariner’s sin. The second intersection of morality and symbolism is the ancient mariner being seen as a symbol of Adam from the Bible. Adam committed the original sin, which is just like the mariner.(Ulmer) The original sin in this context isn’t the eating of the apple, but is the killing of the albatross. The crewmen inherit the mariner’s sin just like Christians inherited Adam’s original sin. The symbol of the albatross and the mariner are connected to each other. The poem would not be as effective as it was or would it made as much sense if the morality of the poem didn't intersect with the symbolism. The reader will see the third and fourth intersection of morality with symbolism in the second part of the poem. The second part of the poem talks about the tribulations that the mariner and his crew have to go through as a result of his sin. They lose their wind to guide their ship and it becomes very hot. The crew blames all their trials on the mariner since he shot the albatross, which also supports the symbolism of the mariner. The mariner and his crew all run out of water and are literally dying of thirst. The mariner’s shipmates all wind up dying and he is the only one left.“The Pilot and the Pilot's boy, I heard them coming fast: Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy The dead men could not blast.I saw a third—I heard his voice: It is the Hermit good!”(505-510) As stated in these five lines the mariner finally gets rescued by the pilot. We see the mariner rejoicing in the line “Dear Lord in Heaven! it was a joy” this is the first time we see the mariner happy. The pilot and the hermit both have symbolic meaning. The saving grace of a merciful God is represented by the boat pilot that rescues the mariner. While the pilot represents the grace and mercy of God, the hermit is a symbol of redemption. The hermit symbolizes redemption, much like Jesus redeemed Adam’s sin. “When they get on shore, the Mariner is desperate to tell his story to the hermit. He feels a terrible pain until the story had been told. “(Shmoop Editorial Team) This supports the fact the hermit symbolizes redemption. It support the symbolism because the mariner says that he felt this terrible pain until he told the hermit his story. If there was no intersection of morality with the symbolism the poem would not be as effective as it was or would it made as much sense. Although the mariner accepted his sin, shooting the albatross, and he is now redeemed he spreads his tale. The mariner spreading his tale could be symbolic to the disciples spreading the gospel after Jesus’ death on the cross.
