While reading this poem I felt like a kid being read to. It seems like it would be a favorite story of little boys because of the “pirate” theme throughout. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” prevails with themes of mistake and forgiveness. Upon shooting the Albatross, the skies became still and foggy and the Mariner’s crew were dying. He seemed to kill the good omen that was sent to him as noted in the scholarly side notes. (pg. 328). Just as men have rejected God throughout history and had to pay by going to Hell, the Mariner paid for his mistake with foul conditions and spirits. Coleridge relates spirits and nature and suggests that we should act in the favor of all, even the spirits we can not see. The Mariner is forgiven and told to tell his story to different lands. This is much like Jesus preaching to the people God’s lessons.
“He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all.”
In this paragraph, Coleridge is showing how everyone should be treated equally. Mistakes are human nature and they will happen. Even though the Mariner has made re wrong decisions, he will be treated fair in the end by God.
“Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The Night-Mair LIFE-IN-DEATH was she,
Who thicks man’s blood with cold.
The theme of beautiful evil is seen through this passage. In society today, the most intriguing availabilities are exciting but consequential. Coleridge picks out the ironic situation of temptations.
7 comments:
What a great view on the reading. I loved this poem also so its not just for "little boys," (lol)but seriously how you pointed out that most things in life that are intriguing or tempting are most of the time with some consequence. I did not catch that at first but now when I look back over it I will look for that theme that you pointed out.
Jason,
Good focus on this single poem, and good selection of passages to quote. These help to illustrate your comments. When talking about poetry, I think it is always safer to start with what the poet says, before trying to determine what it means!
Good ideas concerning the shooting of the albatross. I personally saw something of Jesus's crucifixion in the act. Good use of quotations to explain your reasoning.
Thanks for the inspiration - I'm going to give it a go and try reading this poem to my grandson and see how he reacts. I appreciate your prespective and enjoyed reading your thoughts and analogies between the Mariner and Jesus. Your analysis was helpful to me in re-reading parts of the poem.
Very insightful look at this poem. I had never thought of the similiarity to it with Jesus and his ministry.
I liked how you relate this to a child being read to, because I also found the story-telling aspect of this poem. Good use of quotations to help with your interpretations.
Wow seems like alot of people found this post to be very helpful and educating. I too found it interesting how you linked the Mariner and Jesus. Very interesting.
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