Samuel Taylor Coleridge is best known for his poem "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." This poem is popular due to its connection to the religion of Christianity. Coleridge uses clever points of view, tricky sound devices, and fascinating symbolism to create a famous allegory about a troubled mariner and his journey to forgiveness.
The author begins the poem instantly as a third-person showing points of view from both the wedding guest and the mariner. The wedding guest would like to go back to the wedding, but the mariner's "glittering eye" keeps him intrigued. As the mariner begins his tale, the reader realizes that the mariner is a prophet or disciple and the wedding guest symbolizes a non-believer of Christianity. In the beginning of his story, the mariner is a greedy man sailing towards the South Pole with his crew. At this point the Coleridge uses alliteration; "The ice was here, the ice was there,/ The ice was all around;" (59-60) to show the danger that the mariner and his crew faced. When all looked grim for the crew, the Albatross appears and calms the storm and ice. The Albatross clearly symbolizes a Christ figure, more specifically , Jesus, who provided for his people when he was on Earth. But, this symbolism wouldn't be complete without the Albatross' death, which the mariner provided via his crossbow. At first thought, the crew was very unpleasant to the mariner because they assumed the Albatross is what kept the storms away; but after a few days they realized they were fine without the bird and apologized to the mariner.Therefore, the reader can infer that the crew symbolizes the Romans in biblical times. They were a very hypocritical group, loving Jesus, and then wanting him killed, which directly reflects to the feeling of the crew members.
The mariner and his crew think all their troubles have past until the mariner spots the ship of death off in the horizon.
