The Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is a wild and imaginative tale, which in the words of Sir Walter Scott, ‘displays so much beauty with many eccentricities’” (Moore, 685). The central theme of this poem is the suffering incurred by the mariner and his crew for killing an albatross. They are punished with drought and death. Amidst a series of supernatural events, the mariner’s life alone is spared and he repents, but he must wander the earth and tell his tale with the lesson that “all things great and small” are important. Thus, the poem has a moral that all things must be loved. The ancient Mariner tells a story that relates itself clearly to a major Romantic archetype, the Wanderer. I agree that “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” deals with the modern myth of the compulsive wanderer traumatized and alienated by a shattering experience, but not permanently. Thesis: The poem is about the wanderings of the ancient mariner who is permanently traumatized and alienated by his killing of the albatross and his experiences lead him to the spiritual realization that all creatures must be loved.
The Wanderer is the name given to a character of someone on a journey in art and mythology. It could be a traveler, a knight, a cowboy, a prince, or a princess seeking something. What they could be a treasure, a goal, a holy grail that will lend meaning or fulfillment to life and remove its sense of disjointedness. In this poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the ‘wanderer’ is the mariner. He is a traveler who is exploring the seas in his ship along with his crew. By killing the albatross impulsively, he is forced to endure the horrible punishment of carrying the dead albatross around his neck, and travel amidst the dead bodies of his crew. The punishment ultimately proves to be beneficial as it leads to the mariner realizing deeper lessons in life.
The world of the Mariner’s voyage is purely visionary; the ship is driven by a storm towards the South Pole and into a realm simpler and more drastic than the natural world of experience. Into a sea of ice, where no living thing was to be seen, through the snow fog, there comes suddenly a great sea bird, the albatross. Without any premeditation or conscious motive, the narrator murders the albatross. The albatross is hailed by the mariners in God’s name and hence they blame the mariner for killing it. They hang the albatross around his neck. Soon, Death and Life-in-Death, who arrive in a ghost ship, dice for the crew and the latter wins the mariner. The sailors die and the mariner is allowed to live a life in death. He breaks the curse when he is able to bless the water snakes on a moonlit night. “A spring of love gushed from my heart / And I blessed them unaware.”
The ancient Mariner is warmed deep within by the love he felt and this love is the immediate means of his spiritual rebirth (Bloom 11). When he returns to land, he finds he has to tell his tale; he ends his narrative by reminding the wedding guest of the need to love “man and bird and beast”.” The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is said to be based on several historical sources such as Captain James Cook’s voyages, the legend of the Wandering Jew, and especially Captain George Shelvocke’s 1726 A Voyage ‘Round the World, in which he describes the shooting of an albatross by one of his shipmates. Still, others believe that Coleridge wrote the strange, sensually rich text under the influence of opium because of the dreamy style of writing.
The ancient Mariner’s life changes because of the one incident of killing the albatross. As a result of that one act, he is completely traumatized through the punishing attitude of his crew. His fellow sailors hold him guilty for killing the albatross that they valued as God. Even when they are dead, the eyes of the dead bodies of the crew seem to accuse him and their bodies won’t rot. So, the ancient mariner is left to travel amidst the bodies with accusing eyes. The ancient Mariner drifts on the ocean in this horrible situation, not able to pray. However, one icy moonlit night, he encounters a beautiful moment in the moonlight and he blesses some beautiful water snakes in the spur of the moment. The mariner is immediately relieved of the burden around his neck and the dead bird falls away. The rains quench his thirst. Finally, the mariner is able to sleep and when he wakes up, the bodies of the crew disappear. Thus the mariner, who was traumatized and alienated till the moment he was able to bless the water snakes, is finally relieved of his burden but not of his trauma and alienation. He has been chosen to live a life by death.
Edward E. Bostetter indicates, the Mariner himself finally remains alienated from the world and society and produces alienation in those he meets. The mariner is not able to talk on an equal platform with others. This can be seen in various occasions such as the mariner manages to talk to the wedding-guest only by mesmerizing him; during the crisis period in the poem, the parched tongues of the shipmates do not permit them to speak; and the two voices discuss the Mariner, in the air and in his soul as if he were not there. Such impoliteness begins with the first word, which points rather than describes: “It”. This completes the alienation effect.
Geoffrey H. Hartman has described the Mariner as “the Wanderer”. The word “wanderer” can have many connotations. In one aspect it would mean a person traveling on a journey without a fixed plan. In another sense, it could mean a person finding his goal in an intuitive manner on a journey of self-discovery (Scutts 1). The concept of wandering can also be viewed in the context of religion as an act of divine power, guidance, or punishment. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner may be directly associated with the word ”to wander.” The Ancient Mariner strays onto the infernal sea. On the metaphorical level, he is a person who has wandered away from his true human nature which is to love all creatures. He endures his traumatic voyage as a punishment and as an act of divine power and guidance. He is punished for his act of killing the albatross. He is divinely guided by the ghost ship of Death and Life-by-Death and as an act of divine power; he finds the capacity to break free from the curse. The Wanderer sets out a fool, a prey to folly and its consequences. He becomes wise as a consequence of his exposure to experience.
In the case of a “Wanderer’ image in art or mythology, the journey may be inner or outer, of course, and it may not look dramatic and the external circumstances may or may not stay the same as it was at the beginning of the journey. In the ancient Mariner, the voyage of the mariner is both inner and outer. Externally, the Mariner travels from the infernal sea of suffering, back to his home. Internally, the Mariner travels from a selfish attitude to one that is universally loving and embracing. His selfish attitude is indicated by the thoughtless manner in which he kills the albatross. His selflessness is indicated by the impulsive manner in which he blesses the snakes. The external circumstances do keep changing. First, the Mariner sets out on a tranquil voyage, next he enters the traumatic period, and later he finds himself on land.
Different critics have viewed the plight of the mariner differently. According to Auden the ancient mariner and his ship represent the small but persisting class of mental adventurers, who are, from the social point of view, criminals. In the words of Auden: “They disturb the social order and they imply a criticism of the accepted round of life; they are self-appointed outcasts. The Mariner escapes from his isolation by the enlargement of his sympathies in the manner least expected and he is allowed to return to common life. But he is still the marked man, the outcast, the Wandering Jew, the victim of his own thought”. This shows the alienation experienced by the Mariner. Traditional quest romance ends with either a vision of a heavenly city of the assurance of a self-recognition or personal salvation, but “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” ends with stronger statements of the permanence of wandering and transience (Magnuson 119). The mariner continues to wander on land as a wanderer telling his tale to others (Magnuson 119). The mariner has transgressed boundaries, traveled on an extravagant journey, returned briefly to interrupt a wedding with his tale, only to resume his wandering. (Magnuson 119).
Often, the wanderer’s story begins in captivity. In fairy tales this is often literal captivity in a cave or castle, perhaps imprisoned by a dark force or a spell or a dragon. The wanderer breaks free in some way, attempting to find something that feels more life-affirming, more authentic, more real, and alive. In the case of the Mariner, he sets out on a voyage trapped in his own selfish attitude. His ‘selfishness’ is the attitude from which he is redeemed towards the end of the journey. The Mariner’s visual encounter with the water snakes balances his act of killing the albatross. Both of these acts spring from subconscious impulses.
The danger of the wanderer archetype is the loss of community, of being self-absorbed, and thus missing the joys of love and giving and relationship. But what can be learned from a wandering experience is to trust oneself, one’s inner impulses, and allow oneself to be guided by a sense of righteousness. This is what happens in the case of the ancient mariner. After the loss of the crew, he is left all alone on the sea, carrying a burden around his neck. However, the minute the mariner is able to get past his self-absorbed nature and bless the water snakes, everything changes for the better. He is relieved from the curse and discovers the joy of loving and giving.
One quintessential form of the wanderer archetype is the spiritual search. For even when it’s done with a group of like-minded people, the journey inward is still always a solitary one, always unknown, always to some extent uncharted. The ancient Mariner’s voyage can be viewed as a spiritual search. His voyage is exploratory in nature and is not charted. He arrives at a destination that was not part of his plans. His experience is internal and involves more of his spirit than his actions. Thus, his voyage can be seen as a spiritual search. Wandering journeys in biblical tradition constitute a paradox (Scutts 3). The experience of wandering ultimately proves beneficial, for it provides the opportunity for moral growth and education. This is true in the case of the Ancient Mariner. The Ancient Mariner does not seem to enjoy any tangible benefits in his harrowing voyage. These experiences, however, allow him to grow spiritually and morally and give him an authority that the reluctant hearer of his story cannot withstand.
Usually, wanderers or adventure travelers tend to tell ”tall stories”, many of which are hard to believe. Hence the wanderer may also be perceived as one who is capable of producing entertaining stories that not many people can identify with. This is in accordance with the fate of the ancient mariner who is alienated from society, set apart from fellows, burdened by the exceptional nature of what he has to tell and the compulsion to recount his story. Like all wanderers, the mariner is an excellent narrator. The wedding guest becomes a ‘‘sadder and wiser man’’, after listening to the Mariner’s story.
The ancient Mariner incorporates the main characteristic of the archetypal wanderers of antiquity: being under the influence of planets such as the sun and the moon. (Bloom 81). In “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ there is a strong relationship between the Mariner, the Wanderer, and the higher powers represented by the sun and the moon, the albatross and the wind. The sun, traditionally a symbol of life and regeneration, represents stasis and death in Coleridge’s poem. The most important scene in the poem is the blessing scene at the end of part 4. The moon appears to dominate the scene (Bloom 9).
When the mariner reaches his lowest point, in part 4, “Alone, alone, all alone, / Alone on a wide wide sea!” unable to pray and longing to die, he opens his eyes and notices a world outside himself. In his loneliness and fixedness he yearneth towards the journeying Moon, and the stars that still sojourn: “The moving Moon went up the sky, / And nowhere did abide: / Softly she was going up, / And a star or two beside— / Her beams bemocked the sultry main, / Like April hoar-frost spread;” The moon also serves in expressing the loneliness and restlessness of the mariner. The mariner, though fixed, can find no place of rest; the moon and stars, though always moving, are always at home. This is the guiding philosophy behind all wanderers and the mariner, by following such a philosophy of continuous voyaging proves he is truly a wanderer.
The concept of wandering with its manifold associations with death, transition, inter-related movements of mind and body, etc. implies epic subject matter that can contain polarities within its organization. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is typically epic in nature, expressing an intense concern with polaric relationships. Primarily for this reason it is characterized by a strong ironic element exemplified in what is probably the most celebrated line in the poem: ”Water, water everywhere / Nor any drop to drink.” (121,122). The motif of polarity is enhanced by reference to the geographic poles and the ”Polar Spirits” (Gloss to lines 393 – 405). A number of the Polaris oppositions found in the poem are based on tradition. The Queen of Heaven and Death-in-Life is an antithetic pair playing a vital role in the poem. These polarities underline the epic nature of the story that is characteristic of all stories of wanderers.
Thus, in the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, the mariner does resemble the archetypal myth of the wanderer – in the permanence of his wandering, in the benefits of his wandering, his isolation and traumatization, his association with the heavenly bodies and nature and finally, his realization of the spiritual truth of love.
Bibliography
Bloom, Harold (1986). Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Chelsea House Publishers. New York. 1986.
Magnuson, Paul (1998). Reading Public Romanticism. Princeton University Press. 1998.
Scutts, Julian (2005). The Ancient Mariner Interpreted as a “Wanderer”. Web.
Hartman, H. Geoffrey (1970). Romanticism and Anti-Self-consciousness, Romanticism and Consciousness. W.W. Norton and Company. New York. 1970. 46 – 56.
Bostetter, E. Edward (1973). The Nightmare World of “The Ancient Mariner” in: Other Poems. Tiptree Publishers. 1973. pp. 185 – 199.