Rime of the Ancient Mariner

The thermometer read 7F at the bus stop this morning. It was the kind of weather that makes a stormdoor handle come off when you apply even a normal amount of force. This arctic condition coincides with today's brush with an old story, fully embedded in literary history, about a Captain and his crew whose trials and tribulations began in the deadly Antarctic world.

At work, I had the opportunity to assist a visiting scholar interested in Samuel Coleridge's epic poem, Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Coleridge (1772-1834) composed this poem in the late 1700s. It has henceforth been considered to be one of the pillars of English literature. 

The storyline could easily make this poem a hit movie, given our present-day fondness for Sci Fi and visitations of dangerous and inhospitable other worlds. The crew experienced life-threatening conditions in the icy, antarctic world until an albatross guided them out. When in the dead calm of a warmer climate,  out of imminent danger, the mariner shot it.  Succeeding hardships visited the crew from then on, led them to believe that the albatross' killing caused all their suffering.

" And every tongue, through utter drought, Was withered at the root;  We could not speak, no more than if We had been choked with soot. "

In retribution, the crew forced the mariner to wear the dead albatross around his neck where it remained. Only after the mariner learned to pray did the albatross unraveled  from his neck and fell into the ocean.

" Ah! Wel-a-day! What evil looks Had I from old and young! Instead of the cross, the albatross about my neck was hung "

The entire crew eventually died, but their bodies with their eyes open continued to curse the mariner.

The deep pathos of the The Rime of the Ancient Mariner engendered many book illustrations such as the one that appears on the right. This illustration was created by, credit given to, the master illustrator Mervyn Peake in 1949. 

Symbolisms abound among the academics, including the albatross represented Christ in his martyrdom. But, my take is simply that betrayal does not pay, that killing an animal, or any being, who helped you get through hard times, one who served you well, will bring dire consequences--not only for you but also for those conniving ingrates. Hubris will cost you dearly.

The idiomatic expression of having, " an albatross around my neck," is rooted in this poem. The ancient mariner, sole survivor of the crew, was left to wander the world, like a forlorn beggar, retelling his sorrowful story to those who cared to listen . Pretty good literature.