The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Forum

what is the meaning of the albatross symbol?

It depends on what your view of the rest of the poem is. Like anything though it can mean different things to different people. I think it is Jesus though, evidence for this being that he comes along and allows the ship to move after it is stuck perhaps a metaphor for mankind's salvation. He also come to 'the mariner's hollo' which could mean that the mariner is a metaphor for St Peter.

Hope this helps.

hi please help me my 9 year old daughter has come home from school with homework to do with the poem the rime of the ancient mariner. she has to choose one of the many verses and change it into modern english but i have no idea where or how to start someone plese help me kirstie

It's pretty easy to do if you read the text of the poem and then you read the GradeSaver summary. I'll do the first few lines for you. The first line is the text of the poem, and the line with the *** is my translation

It is an ancient Mariner,
*** An old sailor

And he stoppeth one of three.
*** Stopped one of three people

"By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
*** The stopped man said, "Man with the long grey beard and glittering eye"

Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
*** "Why did you stop me?"

"The Bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
*** The stopped man said, "I'm heading to a wedding and the groom is just about to walk down the aisle"

And I am next of kin;
**** And he's my close relative

The guests are met, the feast is set:
*** The guests have already been received and the table is set

May'st hear the merry din."
*** I want to get to the fun party.

He holds him with his skinny hand,
*** The sailor holds him with this skinny hand

"There was a ship," quoth he.
*** The sailor said, "There was a ship."

"Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"
*** The stopped man said, "Let go of my hand you crazy grey-bearded man!"

Eftsoons his hand dropt he.
*** And then he let go.

This isn't in response to the albatross, but...I have a 1.5 page essay I am supposed to write on the last three stanzas of the poem and why the wedding guest came away a sadder but wiser man?....any ideas? Getting desperate...

It is the idea that with wisdom comes sadness.
Take children for example. They innocently play, happy, completely unaware of the troubles of the world and the troubles they will face later in life.
Wisdom comes from experience, and since they are only young they will not have experienced much sadness. (Not true sadness anyway.)
However, the older we grow the more experienced we become, and the more we know about the world and the evil contained in it, the sadder we are.
With wisdom, comes sadness. Hope this helped a little bit.

the albatross could symbolize the mariner's sin...

The albatross symbolizes the mariners guilt. When he must hang it over his neck to prove he is guilty and show a burrdon and when it falls off his neck after he blesses the snakes it is because he has started to show compassion and pay for his crime.

What is the ecocritical approach of rime of ancient mariner?
Can we aggre Colridge" symbolised that unspecified caused of kiling of albatrose will be the killing of natural environment after arrival on humal on Antarctica as the pride gained by Captain James Cook's.