Despite it's importance, the sailor men and the Mariner continue to "slay the bird" with the last four lines of repetition being, "Then all averred". Not only is parallelism portrayed, but it conveys the ignorance of man in that we have became exclusively concerned about ourselves and disregard the creations God and nature brought forth. In addition, the albatross becomes the defining symbol of the Mariner's big mistake. As a symbol of the burden of sin, it is compared explicitly to the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. The Mariner now realizes the trouble he has brought upon himself, yet his incapability to speak does not give him the chance to pray out loud.
The Mariner’s voice is used to tell the story of how he violated universal harmony, but, his epiphany allows him to reconnect with God and much he should actually appreciate the creatures God creates. Overall the voices used by both the Mariner and the Wedding Guest are used in connection with the images created. Imagery is very important in part four. The image of the Mariner being somewhat supernatural remains throughout as even when he is suffering deeply; the Mariner’s ‘Glittering eye’ still remains. There is much reference to images of the Mariner’s eyes as he ‘kept them close, and the balls like pules beat;’ which is an image that everything is an assault to the Mariner’s eyes.
But the Mariner escapes his curse by unconsciously blessing the water snakes, and the albatross drops off his neck into the ocean. In the poem, I think the Albatross represents Nature, but it means nothing to the Mariner. What’s more, a ship followed by an albatross is generally consider an omen of good luck. When the Mariner kills the symbol of Nature, which is regarded as an act that will curse the ship, Nature quickly changes and began punishing him. He is then tortured by the rays of the sun and mocked by the sight of water that he could not drink.
This act of killing the bird invites the wrath of the supernatural spirits who then pursue the ship. These supernatural spirits subject the crew as well as the mariner to a series of excruciating events. The ship is lead from ice to uncharted waters, where the sailors are tormented by thirst. As a reaction to their pitiable state, they blame the mariner and hang the corpse of the albatross around the mariner’s neck. Hopes of salvation run high when everyone on board notices a tiny speck which they imagine to be a ship.
One of these examples is “For all averred, / I had killed the bird / That made the breeze to blow. / Ah wretch! / said they, the bird to slay, / That made the breeze to blow!” (Rime 93-96). This is an emotional example because the sailors became mad with the Mariner when he shot the albatross with his crossbow. Another emotional example is when the sailors started to rejoice when they saw an approaching ship.
This young and robust man makes very blasphemous remarks and he condemns the poor people on board for getting sick. Bradford writes, “But it pleased God…to smite this young man with a grievous disease….they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him” (29). It is likely that his death is the cause of a natural disease and not of God. Bradford, being ignorant of how pathogens and diseases work, quickly deems his death as God’s justice without recognizing the coincidence of this young seaman’s crude and irreverent behavior. Bradford only accepts God as the source of death or even life.
Therefore, at the start of this section, Coleridge uses the frightened narrative voice of the wedding guest to express the mariner’s supernatural appearance. As the section progresses, Coleridge uses ambiguous description to express the hellish experience of the mariner, having been disconnected from the divine. The repetition of ‘alone’ creates a sense of the mariner’s isolation in this ‘rotting sea’ after his shipmates have died. Coleridge described the ‘thousand slimy things’ which are the only living creatures left with the mariner after the death of his crew. The ambiguous description of them as ‘things’ suggests that this world is so supernatural that it cannot be described in detail.
Larkin Pipes White Honors English 10 April 28, 2013 Sin revealed in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” It is human nature to sin and without imperfection humans would live in an immaculate world with no need for God. Coleridge’s narrative poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” follows a lost sailor who has a spiritual transformation after killing an innocent bird. The poem breaks down sin, and elaborates on the narrator’s punishment, redemption, and transformation. The Mariner commits a sin against nature when he murders an impeccable albatross. He kills the pristine creature “without apparent premeditation or conscious motive” (Bloom 207).
Through his new found worship for them, he longs for their love, and most importantly, acceptance, as he says “[w]as I, then, a monster, a blot upon earth, from which all men fled and whom all men disowned?” (Shelley 108). Through these lines of the monster’s, his essential humanity now becomes clear to readers; as
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” describes a lamenting story about a sailor who, for no good reason, shoots down an albatross that was following his ship while sailing. The sight of an albatross is a considered a good omen to sailors. When the Ancient Mariner shot it down, killed it, and therefore placing a curse upon the crew for his awful deed. The telling of this story could possibly be as a result of an opium-induced stupor, instead of a morality lesson. It is well known that Coleridge began a drug habit as a child and severely debilitated him later on in life ("Poetry Foundation").