PUTTING CHRIST BACK INTO THE ALBATROSS
“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is no Pirates of the
Caribbean with rip roaring special effects. It is the journey of the Ancient
Mariner who once was a member of a crew like Captain Jack Sparrow, but his crew
dies instantly in a run in with death, a mysterious lady and a skeleton ship. His
journey includes spirits, super speeding ships and surprised wedding guests.
Because of his action of killing the albatross on the ship, the Ancient Mariner is destined
to continually seek repentance. Symbolically, the Mariner is mankind and his sin is
killing Christ who is represented by the albatross whom the Mariner killed with the
cross-bow, which is the the cross on which Christ died.
By killing an albatross, the Mariner sets his never ending journey of repentance into
motion. Upon the death of the albatross, “Instead of the cross, the albatross about my
neck was hung (Coleridge Part 2/Lines 141-142).” These lines show that the Mariner
has come to represent the cross on which Christ died. With the albatross hanging from
his neck and he the cross, the Mariner becomes the tool that causes the death of Christ.
Beings in the spirit world, angels, are aware of what the Mariner has done. The spirit
known simply as First Voice, says upon seeing the Mariner for the first time, “is this the
man? By him who died on cross, With his cruel bow he laid full low the harmless
albatross (Coleridge, Part 5/Lines 398-401).” The Mariner is recognized outside the
realm of mankind as the one responsible for the death of Christ on the cross.
Once the dreadful deed is done, the Mariner is destined to a life of repentance,
seeking forgiveness for mankind from God, who is “The spirit who bideth by himself in
the land of mist and snow (Coleridge Part 5 /Lines 402-403).” This God lives a solitary
life where others could not see things clearly because of the visual disturbance caused
by mist and snow which is mankind’s ignorance. God is all seeing, thus he can see
clearly and he allows this repentance because, as the poem states, “He loved the bird
that loved the man who shot him with his bow (Coleridge Part 5 / Lines 404-405).” He
knows that Christ loved mankind, and from this love, God will forgive, eventually.
Conversations on penance, of penance and asking for penance, highlight the text.
The spirit, known as Second Voice has a soft voice, using a simile to describe his voice
“as soft as honey-dew (Coleridge Part 5/Line 407).” This spirit is of nature which is the
honey-dew voice as honey is made by bees from the flowers of nature and dew is the
water that feeds the plant which make the flowers, showing the cyclical nature of life.
Because of his affinity to the natural world, Second Voice understands what has
happened and what will happen to the Mariner. “The man hath penance done, and
penance more will do (Coleridge Part 5 / Lines 408-409).” Second Voice knows that the
Mariner has begun his penance by watching everyone around him, his shipmates, die
and understands that the Mariner will continue on a journey of penance. He imparts
this information to First Voice as they converse about the Mariner and his sinful deed.
When the Hermit appears on the scene, the Mariner quickly realizes he is a man of God. Singing hymns in the wood by the sea, the Hermit is one with nature, like the spirit Second Voice. The Mariner immediately recognizes that the Hermit will “shrieve my soul, he’ll wash away the Albatross’s blood (Coleridge Part 6 /Lines 512-513),” when he sees the Hermit on the boat with the pilot and the pilot’s boy. By washing away the albatross’s blood, the Hermit can offer absolution for killing Christ. Upon meeting, the Mariner immediately asks the Hermit to absolve his soul with the request “O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man (Coleridge Part 7/Line 574)!” The Hermit, is the priest who will hear the Mariner’s confession. He begins his priestly duties by making the sign of the cross and awaits the Mariner’s confession. Thus confession is the nature of conversation the Mariner has with the Hermit.
