Christian Symbolism in Coleridges Rime of the Ancient Mariner
by
breleigh (student)
Rutan
Christian Symbolism in Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Biblical Symbolism in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, written in 1797, has been widely discussed throughout literary history. Although critics have come up with numerous different interpretations of this poem, one idea that has remained prevalent throughout these discussions is the apparent religious symbolism present throughout this poem. As Piper says in her book The Singing of Mount Abora, “The Ancient Mariner contains natural, gothic, and biblical symbolism; however, the religious and natural symbolism play the most important roles in this poem”(43). Coleridge uses symbolism to show his belief in the Holy Father, Son, and Spirit as he portrays a Mariner lost at sea and filled with sin only to be saved by God in order to spread his story and faith. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” begins to have a more clearly religious meaning at the end of part one and continuing, and it is after the killing of the Albatross that poem deals with the idea of man’s sin and his redemption through Jesus Christ. The dream like sections of the poem deal with the idea of good triumphing evil, as well as spiritual redemption through an understanding and acceptance of the Lord’s strength. While many scholars believe that this is more of a nightmare poem I disagree and believe that it was Coleridge’s intention to write a poem explaining his religious and spiritual beliefs; I will show these beliefs as I discuss the Christian symbols and events such as the albatross and its death, the character of Life-in-Death, the blessing of the water snakes, the rain washing over the Mariner, and the Mariner himself.
In order to properly understand the Christian symbolism throughout “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” an understanding of whom Samuel Taylor Coleridge was is needed. Coleridge was born to an Anglican clergyman with twelve previous children. For the first nine years Samuel Coleridge grew up in Ottery St. Mary, a small Devonshire village in England. At the age of nine Coleridge was sent to a residential school for orphans, when his father died, and seemed determined to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an Anglican clergyman. It was at this school that Coleridge’s thirst for knowledge grew, and he later attended Cambridge University. While at the university Coleridge became involved in radical political protests arising from the wave of idealism generated in the early days of the French Revolution. This movement was intolerant of the status quo associated with politics as well as religion. Coleridge was not only involved in his studies and political protests, however, and soon found himself in debt fighting his urges to commit suicide. He then left Cambridge University and enlisted into a cavalry regiment forcing his family to pay for his release on the grounds of insanity five months later. Coleridge returned to Cambridge for one year and created a Utopian model community that would be formed in America, but the idea was never successful. He later went on to preach at Unitarian congregations often stating that he pictured Jesus as “the agent of such a revelation, who not only taught those around him the true nature of God as his Father and their Father, but was also a radical visionary and reformer. He was not to be worshipped. The true way of following him lay in heeding his teaching”(Hewett 1). A belief in Unitarianism did not last in Coleridge, however, and he later returned to Orthodox Christianity. It was at this time that he went back to his childhood beliefs and accepted the idea of man’s original sin, at this point in his life Coleridge also became addicted to opium and eventually placed himself into the care of physician. Coleridge was never able to stop his addiction to opium and died, in 1834, with the shame of his addiction haunting him.
