Symbols in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge E

In this essay, I will be examining some of the symbols in Samuel Taylor Coleridges poem, The verse of the past diddly-shit. 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 verbalize a story about killing a bird to a guest at a wedding ceremony. Of course, anyone who reads the poem can see that in that location is more to it than just a simple sex act of a story. The initial symbol in the poem is the wedding that the guest and the Mariner argon at. This is a highly probative detail, because Coleridge could have made the story telling take buttocks at any setting, but he chose a wedding. Why? A wedding is a very religious, very clever occasion. Weddings in and of themselves symbolize juvenile beginnings and happiness. The reason that Coleridge decided to have this exorbitant tale told at a wedding could be for any quash of reasons. I feel that the setting was chosen because of the new beginnings implied. As the Mariner tells his tale, the guest is held captive and when the story is done, the guest becomes essentially a new man and goes off to live the rest of his life. Had the tale taken place at a funeral, the heavy feeling of ending would have destruct the symbolism of new beginnings. Ending of life, of happiness, of everything. If this had happened, consequently the fact that he travel the next day would not have been as significant. Therefore, the wedding is a very important symbol throughout the poem.The millstone is another significant symbol throughout the poem. It first appears in the first section of the poem, and it is a symbol of slap-up herald for the sailors. The albatross is a white bird, which is credibly 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 t hat has come upon the mail 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 goes from being a symbol of god fortune to one of iniquity when it is hung around the Mariners neck as a sign of what he has done. Instead of the cross, the mollymawkAbout my neck was hung.(ln. 142-43)This macabr... ... albatross, the blood that the Mariner sucks in order to hail the ship, the game between Death and Life-In-Death, the penance that the Mariner serves, and the cyclic temper of the poem are only a few of the symbols that add means and depth to the poem. If it were not for the symbols, the poem would simply be the story of a Mariner telling his tale to a hypnotized wedding guest, and then the poem would have no meaning to anyone. As it is, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a poem with great depth and meaning, with a lesson that can check to everyo ne. When reading this poem, the reader can feel much like the wedding guest, entranced and hypnotized. This is because of the symbols. Even if the reader of the poem does not consciously discriminate the symbols in the verse, the subconscious mind will catch them and understand the inherent meaning. The symbols in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner are therefore the dowry of the poem that makes it so intense. Works CitedColeridge, Samuel Taylor. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In septet Parts (1817 text) in Samuel Taylor Coleridge A Critical Edition of the Major Works. Ed. H J. Jackson. Oxford Oxford University Press, 1985.