Poem Review on Samuel Taylor Coleridge -The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The poem ‘the Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ written by Coleridge in the year 1978 narrates the story of an ancient Mariner. The bottom line is the events that followed after the mariner kills a bird. The Mariner kills the albatross because he associated it with lack of the winds. The crewmembers disagree with him at first because they thought the bird was a good omen that brought the winds when they were stuck on ice. When the albatross appeared, the winds blew, and they moved swiftly. However, when the winds died they blamed the albatross.
When the Mariner killed the bird, the sailors cheered as an approval of his action. By doing so, they disrespected all nature the poet states that all creatures big and small are Gods creation. As a result, all the sailors died because they approved the Mariner’s actions of killing the albatross “they drop down one by one” (Coleridge & Gustave 30). In addition, the Mariner who committed the crime goes through a fate worse than death. He is condemned to tell the story forever. The mariner must tell his story to strangers who appear to need the lesson as punishment for killing the albatross. He has a special instinct that tells him to whom he must tell the story and can speak any language needed and has a mesmerizing hold over his listener. Every time he tells it, he is temporarily relieved of the agony he carries in his soul.
Although the poem Rime of the Ancient Mariner is just a frame story i.e. (a story within another story). The moral or lesson of the poem is to respect all of God’s creation. The poet state, “That all creatures, all great and small are Gods creation” (Lee 233). This shows that life leads everyone from innocence to sin but there is hope for atonement. When the mariner realizes the beauty of the sea creatures, ‘the albatross fell off from his neck and sank” (Coleridge & Gustave 40), a sign of forgiveness.
Works Cited
Coleridge, Samuel T, and Gustave Doré. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Illus. Toronto: Dover, 1970 Print.
Lee, Chung-Eun. “Coleridge’s “the Rime of the Ancient Mariner”.” The New Studies in English Language & Literature. 64(2016): 233. Print.