"Rime of the Ancyent Marinere"

In “Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the strongest image to me is the one depicted in lines 137-138: “Instead of a Cross the Albatross, about my neck was hung.” Throughout the rest of the poem the reader envisions the marinere carrying the albatross on him as a burden. It is also significant that the bird replaces the cross around his neck. This symbolizes that the murder is an ultimate sin that cancels out the salvation the marinere is supposed to receive through Christ. Since the marinere has lost his Christian salvation, he begins to experience the suffering of hell. The ship does not move, there is no food or water to drink, and he is subjected to the evil stares of the other crew members. The ghost ship appears and the marinere’s soul is gambled away as the rest of the crew become corpses. There is red everywhere and serpents which symbolize evil and the devil. Through all of these images the reader gets a sense that the marinere is indeed experiencing hell as penance for killing the albatross. The marinere is cursed by the blood of the albatross and must seek salvation through the Hermit he encounters later. The marinere's purpose in life now is to tell others his tale and to warn them against committing sin, even (or especially) those which seem small and insignificant. Perhaps this is a continuation of his penance for his sin; that he must relive the story by telling it to others in order to gain his salvation back.

Picture: Statue entitled "Ancient Mariner" in Watchet, Somerset, England in honor of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Sculptor: Alan B Herriot