First, in the poem, the ship symbolizes the body of man. The ship experiences trials and tribulations just as a real person does. Its carrying the Mariner (symbolizing the individual soul) and crew shows that Coleridge saw the body as a mere vessel of the soul. This symbol of a boat is an especially powerful one, because one steers a ship to an extent, yet its fate lies in the hands of the winds and currents.

Secondly, the albatross symbolizes Christ. Just as the Mariner senselessly slays the bird, man crucifies Christ whose perfection is unchallenged. Even though Christ represents mankind's one chance at achieving Heaven, man continues to persecute Him. The albatross symbolizes the sailors' one chance at deliverance from icy death and the Mariner shoots h

Romanticism in the 18th century emphasis on reason and artifice. It embraces imagination and nature. This signifies the difference between the real and unreal. The poets of this era rejected the public formal and witty works for the pervious century. The poets during this period preferred poetry that spoke of personal experiences, emotions, and language that was plain and simple. The poets during this time focus on

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