Significance of the Bird Albatross in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

 S. T. Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in general, tells the story of a mariner’s perilous journey on the sea. But the supernatural setting and elements of the poem take the reader to a mysterious world. The Albatross is such an element of the poem which plays an important role in presenting a world of spiritual significance.

In his journey on the lonely see, the Mariner as well as the whole ship gets the loving company of the Albatross bearing good omen and good happenings for them while they are in troubles-

At length did cross an Albatross,
Thorough the fog it came;
As it had been a Christian soul,
We hailed it in God's name. (L: 63-66)

Here the conscious use of the word “cross”  in the first line as well as in some other places of the poem indicates its symbolic significance in Christianity. Indeed the bird Albatross is not an ordinary one, rather it represents nature, God’s creation, link between men and God, and the bearer of good things for suffering humanity as Christ did.

The Albatross is so important in the poem that each six of the seven parts of the poem ends with either the direct mention or indirect indication of the bird.

      At the end of the first part, the Mariner suddenly informs us-

"With my crossbow
I shot the Albatross." (81-82)

In our world, we shoot so many birds as the Mariner did, but we do not suffer. On the contrary, he has to suffer a lot for it, since it is not an ordinary killing. Rather it symbolizes killing God’s messenger, breaking the relation between men and nature as well men and God. Thus he commits a great sin in the spiritual world. So he must be punished for his sin. Their punishment in the poem is both physical and spiritual and this punishment produces a spiritual horror for anyone. The Mariner and his companions become as lifeless as painted ocean, and-

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink. (119-122)

and

The very deep did rot: O Christ!
That ever this should be!
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea. (123-126)

---

The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue, and white. (128-130)

     Moreover at the end of the second part, the Mariner informs-

“Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung." (141-142)

That is, the Albatross now does not represent “the cross” but the Mariner’s sin. So he must bear his sin himself. But, is it possible for a man to carry such a big bird about his neck? – Therefore, the Albatross here obviously represents the Mariner’s sin.

          Now, as the punishment, the sailors, the partners of the Mariner, the direct sinner, are possessed by “Death”,  but the Mariner by “Death-in-life”-

“The souls did from their bodies fly, -
They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow!"

Here, the poet again reminds us of the Mariner’s heinous deed with the phrase “my cross bow”.

          However, the Mariner gets rid of his sin, and can pray, whenever a self-realization happens in his mind and ‘a spring of love’ gushes from his heart for the lower creations. The Albatross, now the symbol of his sin, falls off from his neck-

The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea.

Therefore, we see that the bird Albatross plays an important role in the poem, in the process of the Mariner’s spiritual sin-suffering-realization-redemption.