The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Poem Analysis

Samuel Coleridge is a poet whose poems conveyed morals through stories written in an old-fashioned manner. Though complex and long, Coleridge was able to create engaging stories in which the moral was understood through both the story and style of writing. In his poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Samuel Coleridge used meticulous wording, repetition, and metaphorical language to convey a moral: we as humans must respect and care for nature rather than viewing it as some sort of tool we can use and dispose of.

In the poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Coleridge uses distinct diction to display God’s anger at the crew for taking advantage of his creations. This could first be seen in the part where the mariner shoots the albatross and is met with the anger of his crew: “And I had done a hellish thing, And it would work 'em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird That made the breeze to blow,” (part II, line 9). By choosing to use the word “hellish” to explain his actions, the mariner implies that what he has done is a sin or something that angers God. Moreover, Coleridge makes sure to state that the crew would be angered because the mariner had killed the bird “that made the breeze to blow” or in other words kept the ship sailing. This indicates that the the crew only cared for this bird because it benefitted them and didn’t seem to view it’s death as a loss of a precious life. This is verified after some time passes by and the fog disappears, in which the crew becomes approving of killing the bird and start praising the mariner: 'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, That bring the fog and mist,” (part II, line 19). This progressive order in how the crew views the death of the albatross tells a lot about the morals of the crew. The men only viewed the bird as a tool that was meant to help them escape their struggles and no more. They didn’t view it nor any other aspect of nature as a beautiful creation of God’s, leading to his wrath. This can be seen again where, at some point in time, we are told that the crew is surrounded by “slimy things” that “did crawl with legs, Upon the slimy sea,” (part II, line 43). Using the word “slimy” to describe the sea and the living creatures in it displays how the crew only viewed nature in a hideous manner. With such meticulous wording, Coleridge was able to warn his readers of how important it is that they respect nature and everything in it. Without doing so, they are bound to meet God’s wrath, just like the mariner and his crew did for the rest of the trip. 

Stranded at sea as some sort of punishment from God for killing the albatross, the crew finds itself desperate to escape in which Coleridge emphasizes to us through the use of repetition. With the absence of the breeze and the bird gone with it, the men spend time in the sea until their throats are dry and they are unable to talk: “Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink,” (part II, line 37). Then soon came a ship and “With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, [they] could nor laugh nor wail... With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, Agape they heard [him] call…,” (part III, line 15). As in the previous quote, Coleridge repeats some words to intensify the severity of the current state they’re in. With their “black lips baked,” the crew was thirsty to the point where it was impossible to talk. This occurred right after the killing of the albatross, and because they had angered God, these constant struggles that they are facing are a punishment placed upon them by God no other than himself. By using repetition to empahsize their struggles, Coleridge is also intensifying their degree of punishment and, therefore, displaying how great of a sin they committed. To intensify this punishment further, the men are then given false hope of being rescued after spotting a ship in the distance.

This ship that had restored their once lost hope was another punishment from God placed upon the crew members for killing the albatross and this could be seen through Coleridge’s usage of metaphors. As the ship neared by, the setting started changing and everything looked like it was aflame. The ship closed in and soon sailed in between the sun and the mariner’s ship so that, “... the Sun was flecked with bars...as if through a dungeon-grate he peered With broad and burning face” (part III, line 35). Through this line, Coleridge implies that God was the “he” that peered through the sun with a “broad and burning face” which again reinforces the idea that God was angry at them. After closing in, the mariner and the crew realize that the ship is doom and they lose all hope of surviving. Then suddenly, all of the crew members start dying except for the mariner: “and every soul, it passed [him] by, Like the whizz of [his] cross-bow,” (part III, line 80). By mentioning the cross-bow again, Coleridge makes a connection of these events to that of the killing of the albatross, confirming at last that this is some sort of punishment for this action. This idea can be further generalized, leading one to conclude that God was angry at the mariner and his crew for disrespecting nature by viewing it in such an ugly manner and taking advantage of it.

To complete the moral of his poem, Coleridge finally resolves the issue by referring to a past deed that the mariner had committed and changing the actions of the mariner. After spending a while at sea, with dead men surrounding him and no water or food to consume, the mariner starts viewing life in a different manner. He starts seeing the slimy creature that he had once despised as a beautiful creation of God and goes on to say, “ O happy living things! no tongue their beauty might declare: A spring of love gushed from my heart, And I blessed them unaware: Sure my kind saint took pity on me, And I blessed them unaware,” (part IV, line 58). This change of heart towards God’s creation leads to the survival of the mariner and therefore the ending of God’s wrath. Having learned the importance of nature and seen the beauty in God’s creation, the punishment is put to an end. This is affirmed through the albatross falling from the mariners neck and his return to his homeland.

Coleridge used multiple rhetorical devices such as meticulous diction, repetition, and metaphorical language throughout the poem to convey his message that one should respect nature as it is a creation of God and taking advantage of it will only anger God. With everything coming together at the end, Coleridge was able to create a compelling story in which a powerful and meaningful moral was told.