Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Forms of Symbolism in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"Samuel Taylor Coleridge joins together natural symbols such as the Albatross with religious symbols like Christ, to further lay emphasis on his belief that God is present everywhere in nature, and that the Mariner will be propelled into a state of delight, when he discovers his love for God. By using imagery from religious symbolism in nature, Coleridge creates a poem that articulates how the understanding of heavenly love within one's self has the power to repair pain and anguish. By representing the aspects of salvation with concepts of sea and penance, Coleridge makes his message of repentance and humility easier to understand.The Albatross itself is something very holy and the Mariner's crew "hails it in God's name," as a figure of good luck and fortune (Coleridge 699). The Albatross symbolizes Christ and his saintly appearance and virtues. For example, the Mariner senselessly slays the Albatross without giving good reasons why he chooses to do so, just as man judges Christ, whose perfections are evident. Even though Christ represents mankind's one chance at achieving eternal life in Heaven, man continues to persecute Him. The Albatross symbolizes the sailors' one c
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", takes numerous instances of religious imagery and illustrates them into aspects of nature and living things. Samuel Coleridge takes the broad ideas of Christian beliefs and relates them to nature in the form of earthly encounters and living animals. Coleridge uses the sea for example, as a symbol of religious thoughts and beliefs. This is also a strong suggestion to an impersonal fate that controls the destinies of men. We may ask ourselves whether the Mariner's "living" is actually a "Life-in-Death or a Death-in-Life" and if he has learned from his past experiences (Bidney). It is strange to see the snakes providing relief from the punishment that had befallen the Mariner and his crew. The Mariner gambles his life by killing a Godly figure and his destiny lies upon the rolling of the dice. As a terrible result of the Mariner's decision, a curse falls over the ship and the Mariner is sentenced to endless penance. While at sea, the Mariner makes the eternal choice to kill the Albatross with his crossbow. The killing of the Albatross is viewed as a sin and the guilt that the Mariner is now feeling for having put his crew in such awful sailing and living conditions. The snakes that the Mariner now encounters allow him to live out his eternal penance through Christian values, and giving him an access to enlightenment. "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is filled with many supernatural symbols that Coleridge uses to perceive Christian beliefs. Though he did not take many religious images directly from the Bible, Coleridge's interpretation remind the reader of The Garden of Eden when the serpent says to Eve that if she eats the fruit of the tree that she will "shall not surely die"(Genesis, 3:3).
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