Falling From Grace
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' tells the nightmarish tale of an ancient mariner's voyage with supernatural proportions. As a person reads they find that this epic poem has a deeper, more symbolic connection with God. The Ancient Mariner starts his tale out with what seems like a typical voyage. However it drastically changes it's course when out of impulse the Mariner kills the Albatross. After such a heartless act, the Mariner is cursed with his crime; he must face his punishment and finally find his own redemption from God. In "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" the arrival of the albatross was hailed as a good omen amongst the Mariner's crew. Several days prior to the arrival of the "bird of good omen" a storm arose and the Mariner's ship and crew were driven south towards the South Pole into the "land of ice, and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen," this cast a shadow of great foreboding over the ship and crew. "As if it had been a Christian soul," so came the advent of the albatross, marking as what the crewmen believed was good luck. Even though the great seabird brought with it fog and mist, for nine days the albatross faithfully followed the ship as it made its way no
The consequence of his action is life in guilt and anguish. Coleridge's poem is very symbolic and the Mariner's story is, for the most part, directed towards his crime and the resulting punishment. Coleridge uses sea snakes to represent God's creatures; what the Mariner had before taken for granted. This thoughtless, heartless act would end up being the mariner's greatest downfall and his ultimate sin. He must tell his tale to people and pass on the knowledge that he has learned to satisfy his "woeful agony. The Mariner's punishment from God is about to begin. It isn't until the Mariner blesses the snakes for their beauty, "O happy living things," that he is able to pray, causing the Albatross to fall from his neck and sink "like lead into the sea. In his poem, Coleridge offers several religious allusions such as this. God is toying with the ship and crew. " The Mariner's heartsick and acknowledged disgust for non-human life, showed that he had not yet learned his lesson, nor had he completed the penance that Life-in-Death had prepared for him. " The evilness of the approaching ship is shown through the sunrays glowing through the sides of the vessel, making it appear like a skeleton, relating it to death. Life might be better for everyone if the needless mistakes that people make everyday are prevented. Readers may be reminded of Adam, after he fell from God's grace when he ate the forbidden fruit. Just like Adam, the Mariner committed an impulsive act, even though he knew, deep down inside himself that it was a sin. Coleridge leaves us with an eerie feeling in the end as he lets us know the lesson of his poem "He prayeth well, who loveth well, both man bird and beast.
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Acceptance Essays
