The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner
By S.T.Coleridge
What is a ballad? It’s a poem or a song that tells a story.
The mariner is a poet, who has a story to tell to educate others.
Sea voyage is a symbol of life because water is the origin of life.
It si also a mystical journey, which begins with the killing of the albatross, which has a symbolic
value. It’s a sign of good omen for mariners; it’s a symbol of hospitality and also a symbol of Christ
because Christ was also killed by traitors.
In fact, the 2nd part closes with the religious image of the albatross hung to the mariner’s neck.
So the albatross represents
Christ (on the cross)
peace
Hospitality, friendship
Therefore the killing of this bird is a crime against the principle of hospitality and the order of
Nature, it’s an act of treason.
Another important theme is that of the wandering Jew; this is a traditional story which influenced
the Romatinc literature. It is based on the sotry of a Jew merchant, who refused to allow Christ a
rest while Christ was going to Golgota, so he was condemned by life-in-death to wander from place
to place and tell of his sin until the second coming of Christ. In the same way, the mariner killed the
albatross (symbol of Christ) and is condemned to tell his sin.
There is also a sense of predestination: the mariner, as a poet, must tell his story (you must obey
destiny) and the person who is predestined to listen to the story must listen.
The person who is stopped by the mariner is a wedding-guest because he represents a normal man,
while the mariner is the abnormal. We hear the music and the joy that come from the wedding but
the mariner is not tempted because he represents the poet who must obey his ispiration without
being influenced by the external affairs.
In part VII, the narration ends and the moral is exposed: the mariner tells us that if a man wants to
pray well, he must love all creation as closely as he can as God himself loves his creation.