Symbols In The Rime Of The Anc
In this essay, I will be examining some of the symbols in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Symbols were very important in this poem. Without the symbols, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” would be simply a poem about an old mariner who is telling a story about killing a bird to a guest at a wedding. Of course, anyone who reads the poem can see that there is more to it than just a simple telling of a story.
The first symbol in the poem is the wedding that the guest and the Mariner are at. This is a highly significant detail, because Coleridge could have made the story telling take place at any setting, but he chose a ...
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tale taken place at a funeral, the heavy feeling of ending would have destroyed the symbolism of new beginnings. Ending of life, of happiness, of everything. If this had happened, then the fact that he rose the next day would not have been as significant. Therefore, the wedding is a very important symbol throughout the poem.
The albatross is another significant symbol throughout the poem. It first appears in the first section of the poem, and it is a symbol of good omen for the sailors. The albatross is a white bird, which is probably the reason why many Christians of the time saw it as a holy symbol, which made it a good omen. In this poem, the albatross symbolizes good fortune. When the Mariner kills the albatross, for absolutely no reason, the good fortune that has come upon the ship leaves. Symbolically, the Mariner did not kill a simple seabird, but an omen of good fortune and luck, which is why all of the bad things happen to the sailors and the Mariner. The albatross ...
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Mariner bites his arm and sucks the blood in order to call out to his fellows.
“I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! A sail!”
(ln. 160-1)
This is very significant in that the Mariner is drinking not water to slake his thirst, but blood. The blood is his own life, his essence, and he takes it into himself in order to herald the coming ship. Now, this symbol of the Mariner taking his own life and essence into himself to announce the ship is an ironic symbol. As the Mariner is the only one who sees it at first, he is the only person that must take a part of himself to give the knowledge to the others. The irony comes in the fact that the ship carries ...
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"Symbols In The Rime Of The Anc." Essayworld.com. August 3, 2007. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Symbols-In-The-Rime-Of-Anc/69036.
"Symbols In The Rime Of The Anc." Essayworld.com. August 3, 2007. Accessed November 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Symbols-In-The-Rime-Of-Anc/69036.
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