Introduction: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is the most wonderful work of S T Coleridge (1772-1834). The poem is based on the theme of a crime that occurred by a Mariner and the punishment he had to suffer after the act of crime. In the poof fact, the whole poem is an allegory of crime, punishment, and redemption.
Although the Mariner’s crew at first condemns him for killing the bird, they soon approve of his actions, and the Mariner’s punishment for slaying the Albatross falls then not only on himself but also on them. The crew said that the Mariner killed the bird and it brought fog and mist. They hung the dead bird around the Mariner’s neck as his punishment-
“Ah! Well, a day! What evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.”
Much of the poem is subsequently devoted to detailing the terrible and supernatural or deals with experiences by the men until the Mariner is left to suffer alone, filled with bitterness and hatred. The punishment is started by the appearance of the phantom ship which took the lives of the sailors without the old Mariner. Then, the Mariner one and only was the living specie o the sea. The climax of his suffering is reached when for seven days and seven nights, he tried to pray, but could not break the sailors’ curse and does not die. After that, the soul’s regeneration started. Now, the Mariner is able to sleep and when he wakes up it is raining-
“She sent the gentle sleep from Heaven,
That slid into my soul.
The silly buckets on the deck,
That had so long remained,
I dreamt that they were filled with dew;
And when I awoke, it rained.”
Conclusion: Thus, the story of the ancient Mariner is a story of spiritual adventure, a story of crime, punishment, and reconciliation, a tale of sin, expiation, and redemption, a message revealing the secret of communal and family harmony and the harmony of the natural order of the universe- all in one.
