Environmentalism In The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Allegory of the Mariner
(An Analysis of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and its Allegories)
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was one of the very first people to write in the romantic era, and one of the founders of the writings at the time. He was very famous for his new and different take on types of poetry. He practically invented the idea of a ghost story with his extremely famous poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In this story, a group of sailors are stranded in the ocean when an albatross comes by, bringing good luck and winds. The Mariner kills the bird, though, and immediately the ship receives an intense amount of terrible luck. Soon all of the sailors die and the Mariner is left alone. He begins seeing the ghosts of the sailors and

The writer’s purpose is that we must respect and understand our elders and that any wisdom we acquire comes with a cost. Our need for spiritual salvation is exemplified as the Mariner begs God for mercy and willingly accepts his punishment. The fact that the Mariner received such a dramatic punishment, yet dealt with it willingly proves that Coleridge was advocating for environmentalism. Why does Coleridge write such a poem and what does he hope that the world will gain from it? As David Jasper explains, “There is a contrasting assumption that, by structuring one's life upon simple 'orthodox' religious formulations, society and the self appear to be self-creating and self-sustaining, paying lip-service to an imagined deity by a suitably respectable code of conduct.” (Jasper) Coleridge hopes to help people understand that they must pay for their sins, and that if they are willing to do so, they will be able to live with their Father again. We all hope for that love, but it cannot come with pain first. And with the pain, we must pay the