The Mariner Fog

Throughout the poem, the albatross serves as a symbol for both good fortune and sin. While the albatross was still alive, it represented good luck that caused a breeze to blow the ship from the icy South Pole towards the Equator. However, in its death by the hands of the Mariner, the albatross is a testament of the Mariner’s sin, and by hanging around the Mariner’s neck, it symbolizes a hovering curse.

As “The third wave moved forward, huge, furious, implacable,” (Crane) the men went overboard and they were under the complete mercies of the sea. Here, Crane portrays the oiler, “swimming strongly and rapidly” (Crane) towards the shore, while the other men lingered behind, holding on to whatever helped them float. Crane also shows how “The coldness of the water was sad; it was tragic” (Crane), indicating that staying in the water too long would be tragic. Thus, by setting up this kind of imagery, Crane makes his reader think that the oiler was the one sure to survive due to his vigor and rapidity, while the others would meet their fate in the cold waters. It is ironic to the reader therefore, when the exact opposite happens: “In the shallows, face downward, lay the oiler.” (Crane) The oiler had died, while the others lived. This clearly shows the inscrutable influence of the nature’s power as it interferes with life and death. Through this last bit of irony in the story, Crane gives delivers his final message to the reader that nature will have the final say. That is why as “the white waves paced to and fro in the moonlight, and the wind brought the sound of the great sea's voice to the men on shore,” Crane enables his readers to feel along with the crew “that they could then be interpreters” (Crane). It is just “indifferent, flatly indifferent”

He shows no regret or shame as it falls out of the sky, along with no explanation for his disgusting doing. The Mariner continues to tell his story as if he hadn’t known what horrible thing he had done. Later the spirit of the Albatross would come back and avenge its death by cursing the mariner and his crew. After all his crew members have died is when he starts to appear sorrowful and begins to pray not for help, but for God to take him also. At this point of the story, the fate of the mariner lies in the hands of the spirits. Miraculously, he makes it back to his home country and is acknowledged by a Hermit who helps him with his

The Rime of The Ancient Mariner is about a man, the Mariner, going from place to place telling his tale; how he comes to love and care for all things that God has graced with life through all his hardships at sea. His hardships and punishments only begin once the Mariner strikes down an albatross with his crossbow. From then on he is lost at sea with his lifeless crew as his only company. To a passer’s eye, his punishment seems a little harsh for killing a simple bird. However, it was not only a creature the Mariner had killed by his own hand, but everything it symbolized.

The drop of the shipmates, the cracking of ice, and the roaring of the wind all appeal to the sense of hearing, while the Mariner rants his tale. As the ancient Mariner’s crew a;; die, he fails to hear a groan as they drop one by one; however, the sailor hears the thump of the bodies as, separately, they collide with the deck of the ship. The ice cracks, growls, roars, and howls as the crew travel through it; Coleridge writes that the ice is “like noises in a swound.” ”And soon I hear a roaring wind,” states the Mariner during his tale; Coleridge also writes that “the upper air burst into life,” which causes the crew to hear a strong breeze. Using the sense of feeling, Coleridge writes about the drop of the shipmates, the cracking of the ice, and the roaring of the wind.

The Mariner views the Albatross as an omen because it seemed to cause the ice to “split with a thunder-fit” and a “good south wind”, both of which allowed the Mariner’s

The active effect of nature is also explored through responses to the natural world. Within both texts, exposure to nature is associated with changes to mood or circumstance. For example, in ‘Mariner’, the harsh effects of the sun and sea, coupled with aspects of the supernatural, act to “provide an awakening” of the sailor’s mind (Brawley 33). This not only provides an opportunity for the “world of everyday experience” to be impinged upon, but also for the speaker to see beyond this world, to the spiritual (Sandner 60). As a result, Coleridge is able to present his didactic tale through the sailor’s response to these effects. While ‘Lonely’ is not outwardly moralistic, like ‘Mariner’, it does present a clear promotion of the effects of nature.

By killing the albatross, the Mariner sets in motion Christianity’s idea that all except Jesus are sinners, but through repentance one can seek forgiveness and ultimately salvation. However, Coleridge poses a dichotomy regarding the transparency of forgiveness in this ballad. After the Mariner blesses the snakes, the reader presumes the curse was lifted and forgiveness was granted. Although the “Albatross fell off, and sank Like lead into the sea” (288-91), the Mariner was compelled to serve a long-term penance of continually repeating his tale, also serving as a constant reminder of his sin. Where as Christianity teaches that by repenting one achieves forgiveness, Coleridge enacts the idea of retribution in order for the Mariner to ultimately attain God’s forgiveness. For example, one of nature’s punishments taunts the Mariner with extreme thirst, causing him to cry out:

The mariner commits his sins right at the beginning of his voyage. He has no respect for nature

He illustrates his belief that he does not need the good luck of the Albatross. He decides to severe his bonds with the universal cycle of life and love. Following the execution of the Albatross, the Mariner’s luck suddenly changes. He experiences the punishment that comes with the moral error of killing the Albatross. The punishment is isolation and alienation from everything but himself. Thereafter, the "Nightmare," the life in death, kills his crew. He is lost at sea, left alone in the night to suffer, and he has detached from his natural cycle. The Mariner proclaims his misery when he says, "Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! / And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony". To the Mariner, nature has become foreign. The execution of the Albatross causes physical and spiritual decay.

After the crew was put through a long drought with no wind, the Mariner finally spotted another ship. However, this was not just an ordinary ship; it was a ghost ship with spirits coming to kill the crew. As the crew members died, “Each turned his face with a ghastly pang, / And cursed me with his eye” (Coleridge). The Mariner is cursed by each and everyone of the crew members before they die. Although this punishment seems to be fairly mild,

The passage personifies the ocean by talking of its playful nature of the currents “weaving in and out of one another” and its ability to change, as it has a mind of its own. The last sentence within the passage states “it was not dead but alive” the use of short sentencing emphasised its point and indicates its importance. However this short verse changes the mood of the passage, the reader is confronted by the abrupt word “dead” this single word changes the tone of the sentence and explores that along with the capability to be alive there also is the capability to be dead. This foreshadows the next passage and the future of the ocean.

The lines that follow deal with death and punishment.  Part 3, describes how the sailors' "throats unslaked, with black lips baked, We could nor laugh nor wail; Through utter drought all dumb we stood!  I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! A sail! "  Then all the shipmates die "Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one."  And so the ancient mariner was "Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea!  A never a saint took pity on My soul in agony."  He sat

Four varying viewpoints exist concerning what or who the mariner represents, the first being the superficial idea that he is simply the wise old man who imparts wisdom to the younger generations (Williams 1116). Going beyond the literal connotation, the most common and supported argument it that the mariner represents the Christian sinner. The diction chosen by Coleridge often alludes to Christianity, examples include “Christian soul”, ”God’s name”, “[i]nstead of the cross…about my neck was hung”, and “Dear Lord in Heaven” (Coleridge 1616-1632). Howard Creed believes that the mariner is symbolically a poet, due to the fact that he learns “the great truth about the world they live in” and then attempts to communicate it to others through the art of a story (221). The final possibility is that the mariner represents a mother. Repeated connection to conventionally female things like the sea, motherhood, spontaneity/irrationality, and nature begins to support this conclusion. The role of instructing the young, in this case the wedding guest whom “listens like a three years’ child” is also traditionally female, further developing the argument (Coleridge 1616). Overall, the poem is an exemplar at employing Coleridge’s idea of symbol to use the ordinary to show the transcendent, especially Christianity, yielding that the second option is the preeminent choice.