The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
What moral does the example of suffering and redemption teach us?
From part 3 and 4.
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tracey l #96417
Coleridge's message is that we should treat all life as sacred, and that the penalties for taking a life are great. The mariner has the body of the albatross hung arounf his nexk, but his torture continues as the boat is approached by a ship crewed by Death, and perhaps even more terrifying, Life-In-Death. The mariner has to watch each of his fellow crewmen die, but he remains alive to witness each cruel passing.
The souls did from the bodies fly,-
They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul, it passed me by,
Like the whiz of my cross - bow!
The mariner learns that the life of the albatross is as sacred as that of his fellow men, and equally dreadful in the taking.
Source(s)
'Introducing Wordsworth and Coleridge' - N Martin and C Kay
