The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge essay

Although the wedding guests long to attend the wedding as he hears sounds from the wedding feast, the ancient Mariner has a great convincing power and ensures that the guest quiets down to get the full description of the story. The objective of this paper is to reflect on the elements of superstition and religion as used in The Rime of the Ancient Marine poem. Superstition and religion concepts are intertwined in setting and all tend to describe the supernatural power that is related to God or other gods. The theme of Christianity as religion is well represented in Coleridge’s poem through the ancient Mariner’s entire journey. The context is set between the physical and spiritual world which is similar to the teachings and context in the Bible.

As the poet puts it, “Nor shapes of men nor beast we ken- The ice was all between. ” The ancient Mariner narrates that the ice has covered the whole place and no traces of men are detected. In the middle of such shocking situation, Albatross (a mysterious bird) appears. According to the narrator, “At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came, As if it had a Christian Soul, We hailed it in God’s name. ” The appearance of Albatross is a supernatural power which symbolizes Christ. " Before their death, the sailors’ eyes communicate hatred and blame to the mariner. Prior to that, they hung the Albatross corpse around the ancient mariner’s neck. This scene symbolizes the Christ on the cross.

As the way Christ suffered on the cross for the Christians, Ancient Mariner is suffering for his act of killing the mysterious bird. Another superstition aspect is seen when the Albatross corpse falls off the Ancient Mariner neck into the ocean. The raising of the dead mariners and the presence of angels’ song appears as an indicator for the Mariners’ forgiveness of sins and good luck. In conclusion, the narrator integrates various superstition and religion themes in the poem. Most of the narrator’s story is based on Christianity religion where he mentions terms such as Christ, angels and Albatross to represent the Holy Spirit. Various superstition elements are seen to play part in Coleridge’s poem where events are happening mysteriously with an influence of supernatural power.