Thursday, June 25, 2009
Samuel Taylor Coleridge “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
As someone who takes interest into superstition over time I have found that athletes and sailors as the most superstition. With that in mind I found it odd that a knowledgeable mariner would even think about killing a good omen. Sailors believe in omens. Whether it be dolphins swimming with the boat, another sign of good luck, or red sky in the morning take warning, red skies in the morning would lead to bad weather at night sailors take great pride in maintain their beliefs in these traditions. So then why would a man who has sailed for some time kill an albatross? The albatross brings good fortune to sailors and to kill it would be, and for the poem, disastrous. But in a more metaphorical way it shows a relationship to God. By killing the albatross the mariner turns his back to God and receives punishment by the misfortunes of his sailing eventually seeing all the members of his crew die. This horrific episode stops when the mariner prays for forgiveness. After this he is able to sail for a short bit but once again ends up with the misfortune of losing his boat and the crew to the deep. He is later deemed to be a devil and required to walk the land telling his tale. This is similar to Cane after he kills able and receives a mark that would distinguish him from the rest of mankind for the rest of his life. The mariner would never had to deal with all the death and destruction that he saw had he kept his faith in God and not turned his back. This is a cautionary tale of the power of God
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Robert,
ReplyDeleteGood job in this post of setting a context for your discussion, and making some insights into Coleridge's poem, and particularly the Ancient Mariner. I am not sure it was clear the bird was a good omen when he killed it, though; the ship had been stuck in the ice for a while, and after the bird's death the sun came out and freed them from the ice; that is why the other sailors who first thought he had done a wicked deed agreed that it was a good one, and how they got implicated in his crime against nature. The connection to Cain is also insightful.
One idea of yours that I really like but didn't even think about was that the mariner would never have to encounter death again since he was forced to walk the earth. That idea strengthens the moral even more. Instead of just being a punishment as I saw it, the mariner is now forced to keep his faith and becomes even closer with God. He is never able to turn his back on God again like he did that day.
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