How we cite our quotes: (Section.Stanza)
Quote #1
Ah! wel-a-day! what evil looks
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the albatross
About my neck was hung. (II.34)
The albatross becomes a symbol of the Mariner's sin and pride. He thought they could do just fine without the silly bird, and now he's chained to the thing like Steve Martin to John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. This is probably the most well-known image in the poem, and the phrase "albatross around my/your/his/her neck" has entered English the language as an idiom.
Quote #2
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy,
The nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold.
The naked hulk alongside came, And the twain were casting dice; 'The game is done! I've won! I've won!' Quoth she, and whistles thrice. (II.45-46)
The Mariner's fate is appropriately decided by chance: he will either die, or he'll live a life that will be a lot like death. "Life-in-Death" is one of the poem's original mythological creations. Gustav Doré's famous drawing sums up our ambivalent feelings about this handsome dame. One question: does the Mariner continue to live in the state of Life-in-Death even after the sailors' curse is broken?
Quote #3
O happy living things! No tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.
The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea. (IV.65-66)
The Mariner's big moment of conversion is when he realizes that even the grossest, slimiest creatures deserve love and blessing. He's not even aware of blessing them, otherwise his pride would have put a stop to it, but he does, and the curse of the albatross is broken. The albatross falls into the sea, symbolizing the end of his heaviest burden.
Quote #4
The pang, the curse, with which they died,
Had never passed away:
I could not draw my eyes from theirs,
Nor turn them up to pray.
And now this spell was snapped: once more
I viewed the ocean green,
And looked far forth, yet little saw
Of what had else been seen— (VI.101-102)
We're not exactly sure why the sailors' curse is broken at this exact moment, but it relates somehow to his earlier blessing of the sea snakes. Immediately the ocean turns from a sickly blood red to its normal color, bright green.
Quote #5
I saw a third – I heard his voice:
It is the hermit good!
He singeth loud his godly hymns
That he makes in the wood.
He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
The albatross's blood. (VI.118)
Even though the direct curse of the albatross has been lifted, its blood remains on its conscience. He can never truly wipe away the consequences of his actions, and he must constantly reaffirm his transformation into a humble soul. He desperately wants the hermit to make him confess his deed.
Quote #6
He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man,
He rose the morrow morn. (VII.143)
The Wedding Guest undergoes a transformation after listening to the entire story. He realizes that life isn't all about getting down and being the life of the party. Other than that, we're not exactly sure what he learns that makes him wiser – it's one of the mysteries of the poem.