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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 52693 Views


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Description:

Mariners back in the day sure knew how to bust a rime.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a la Shmoop. Have you ever made a little mistake that turned

00:09

out to be… way bigger than you expected?

00:13

That little white lie that somehow snowballed until the FBI got involved?

00:18

The forgotten paper cut that eventually gave you your new nickname, “Stumpy?”

00:24

In Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a Daryl Dixon wannabe shoots down a lovely,

00:31

innocent albatross.

00:32

Bummer, right? Especially for all you animal lovers out there.

00:38

But when the trigger-happy Mariner’s ship stalls on the ocean, and the rest of the crew

00:41

suddenly croaks, he really starts to second-guess himself.

00:47

It takes a spiritual epiphany and a lot of walking corpses to get our Mariner back to

00:52

business… pestering happy wedding guests. Just what is Coleridge trying to get at with

00:57

all this praying, redemption, and resurrection?

01:01

Is a bird just a bird, or does it stand for something more… inspirational?

01:06

Could Coleridge’s albatross be a symbol for Jesus Christ?

01:11

Could be.

01:12

By the middle of the voyage, the sailors are all pretty bored, and missing their parakeets

01:18

back home.

01:20

The albatross becomes sort of a mascot to them.

01:23

They treat him like a Christian soul, which is pretty high praise for a creature that

01:27

takes poop deck literally.

01:29

Plus, in Christian metaphors, Jesus is sometimes compared to a bird. Which definitely beats

01:34

a sea slug, or manatee. Have you ever heard the expression… an albatross

01:39

around your neck?

01:40

The Mariner’s dead-bird accessory isn’t only a symbol of his screw-up, but of the

01:44

human burden of sin.

01:47

The Mariner tells us, Instead of the cross, the Albatross around my neck was hung.

01:52

Sure, it’s a lot lighter than a cross, but not what you’d call…pine fresh.

01:58

It seems pretty obvious that the Albatross is there to teach the Mariner a lesson.

02:02

When the sailor blesses the sea creatures, his feathered accessory falls from his neck.

02:08

He feels a… spring of love… and praises Heaven and Jesus’ mom, the Virgin Mary.

02:13

The Mariner also gets a little of that forgiveness that J.C. is known for…

02:18

…but now he’s got to do a lifetime of community service as penance.

02:22

These all seem like pretty strong arguments for a Christian allegory. But what about the

02:26

poet behind the scenes?

02:32

Coleridge’s dad wanted him to go career with Christianity, but Sam wasn’t into it.

02:37

Instead, he became a rebel with too many causes.

02:40

Coleridge dropped out of college, got hooked on opium, joined a commune, and married one

02:44

woman while in love with another.

02:46

His radical, free-thinking opinions earned him a pretty scandalous reputation…

02:52

Would Coleridge himself have agreed with the Christ-albatross connection?

02:58

So is there a religious back story to our feathered homicide victim?

03:01

Does the albatross symbolize Christ or the cross?

03:02

Is it just there to get the Mariner into church?

03:06

Or would Coleridge laugh at the notion that there’s any connection?

03:16

Shmoop amongst yourselves.

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