Introduction
Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is considered to be one of the most important British poetic texts of the Romantic period. It is often read as an exploration of the "sublime" and utilizes the genre of the adventure narrative to tell a structured story. Historically, the poem was written in the aftermath of the French Revolution and explores concern about societal change. However, it is also important to acknowledge that 'The Rime' reflects a specific aesthetic movement that looked to nature to critique modernity. The poem has been seen to draw on the wayward youth of 'Faerie Queene' in its adoption of the Spenserian stanza. At the same time, 'The Rime' shares apocalyptic imagery with other eighteenth-century texts that thematize the consequences of adventures into forbidden realms.
The poem introduces initial concerns that are reassigned, evolved, or problematized throughout 'The Rime'. As a ballad or minstrel song, a 'rime' tells 'ancient' or legendary stories. But it is not just about stories from our ancestors, but also of an "ancient" prototypical man in his "twilight world". One of the most important themes of the conventionally narrative poem concerns the act of transgression and the inescapable 'presence' of nature. The poem's language mimetically illustrates the Mariner's sense of being 'possessed' by non-human nature and serves as a critique of the limitations of a largely singular narrative perspective. Throughout 'The Rime', the Mariner "is set apart ... from the collective safety of society", like others who violate strict cultural boundaries. Like an artifact, he attempts permanence through the survival of his story and the telling of it.
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Themes
A rich and varied folktale, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is filled with themes that speak to human experience. Individual sections are titled with action: repentance, expiation, reconciliation, and finally, the Mariner’s liberation. Central to these movements are considerations of the sea and the divine, and the estrangement of the Mariner by himself and others. Nature is explored not only in its beauty but in the unexpected danger that results from its devastation. Each is considered at length in this short analysis to better bring out the depth of thematic concern explored within the poem.
The relationships between humanity and nature, as well as sin and redemption, are central to 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' Additionally, the transformative power of storytelling and the consequences for those who defy nature are explored at length. When considering these aspects as an integrated sequence, it is evident that 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is a comprehensive narrative exploring some profoundly human experiences. Loneliness in a world of people is no new theme. The prayer "God save thee, ancient Mariner!" is moving, and its consequent removal is isolating. It is new that we will be made to see as never before the corresponding prayer in the heart of the sacrificer, repudiated and despised. In the blessing of the Albatross comes his realization that all things are connected: this is the goal of word and action in the romancer's landscape. Death, being then an "aha" for realization, follows naturally as a climax to the story within the story.
Many themes have been identified and compounded in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' not all of them uselessly parallel to the romantic drifts of the nineteenth-century literary revival. The natural setting is not only front-stage; it is part of a magical allegory, and its chief function is to delineate. Even the smallest flora in this composition is no naive clump in the pre-romantic mode but a leaf with a totemic or regal significance. The Mariner's environment is found to expand or contract in strict proportion to its emotional quality. The surges of pure terror or rapture in the poem lead him always into the contemplation of a mountain, the existence of miraculous suns, the whereabouts of the moon and stars. The sea has the power to mirror states of soul with paralyzing accuracy: it is glassy, lifeless, or babbling according to their degree of degeneracy. The sense of guilt becomes as tactile as a loose skin of vellum in which the Mariner finds small ease; the decks are slimy in the heat of his sun-stricken soul, which "burnt so gross and thick." The heat of the tropics becomes as hellishly stifling as the exigencies of memory.
Symbolism
The "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a complex narrative, rich in detail and symbolism, incorporating numerous dominant themes divided into various levels of subtopics. One striking symbol that appears in the poem is the albatross. With its associations of good luck, the slaying of this bird symbolizes an act against nature, a burden of guilt, an encumbrance. The albatross is personified as a 'Christian soul' set free from the dead bodies on the ship. Beyond this literal reference, this bird also comes to symbolize nature being killed by the thoughtless actions of an individual. As the albatross and the spirit of good nature become one, the mariner then becomes haunted by it, as nature itself is not so easily slaughtered, for the crew makes it explicit that they consider the albatross as both bird and spirit, a symbol of Christian piety, “holy” and “right.”
Also notable is the constant flow of the sea, as a symbol of the ebb and flow of life and death, and the “water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink” depicts the life-threatening aspect of what appears to be innocuous. On one level, the sea is a dangerous and alien landscape, "as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean," while simultaneously the sea is a resplendent and divine place. Here, symbolically, the sea means both God and the devil. The mariner’s journey into the world of spirits is primarily oriented toward self-understanding, and his desire to understand the mariner as a spiritual pilgrim. The divine or savior is invisible, yet seen or felt in all his works of nature. The spiritual pilgrim moves in the physical world of reality as well. Thus, he had to move from the visible to the invisible, yet always held in mind the unity of all things.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a masterful mix of theme and symbolism. The themes of isolation, nature, and redemption are apparent from the very beginning. The use of darkness as an omen is one of the motifs that stretch the themes throughout the story. In this way, the themes are enhanced by the clever use of symbolism, such as the description of the environment; the Mariner, the Hermit, and the Pilot's responses to the environment; the physical appearance and activities of the crew; supernatural occurrences; and moral lessons.
The Mariner's psyche holds the otherworldliness and emotions of the plot in the same way as the environment. Henceforth, the two shall be seen in light of each other. Aesthetic readings fail to take into account the literary techniques of metaphorical and symbolic language from the religious, moralistic, and even political backgrounds in which they would be easy to read, because this poem is a firsthand acknowledgment of the spiritual values. It is my belief that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner uses easily accessible situations along with extreme imagery that symbolizes the suffering of humanity to carry its thesis to the reader.
The themes in combination make The Rime of the Ancient Mariner have a strong effect on readers. We might realize from the themes of the symbolism mentioned during the analysis of the story that this piece is very heavy with supernatural and religious diction, such as "blood," "soul," "curse," "cross," "heaven," and "pray." These themes contribute to the poignancy of the tale and make one think about their relations with others and their rank in the world and with God. The poem's theme being timeless can have a huge impact on its readers because you never know when it is your time to go and face your final judgments. It carries a warning to the reader. It asks the reader to think about their life and treatment of others in order to take a good step into heaven. Because this theme of isolation is applicable universally. Hence, the Mariner, in a way, is the metaphor for all of us and is the starting point for any human question! Thus, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the fresh beginning of poetry of this age.
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