Spiritual Journey in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

S.T. Coleridge’s ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, being a multi-meaningful poem, has now become one of the most famous poems in English literature. In general, it is a story of a mariner’s interesting voyage or journey on the sea, but, at the same time, includes many supernatural elements. Actually, there is a story of a spiritual journey under the inner fold of the poem showing three stages of human soul – innocence, experience, and super or greater innocence through self- realization. Again, it is also a poem of guilt and redemption, sin and suffering, crime and punishment. Now, we will evaluate both of the journeys and other ideas of the poem and the similar examples of journey in other great pieces of English literature.

Physically the ship of the ancient Mariner leaves the harbour for southward with a good wind and fair weather till it reaches the Equator. Then it is driven by a storm towards the South Pole where huge ice-burgs dangerously float in the sea and no living creature is visible. With the coming of an Albatross, a favorable south-wind begins to blow and the ship sails northwards. But by the killing of the Albatross, the Mariner experiences many extremely horrible and mysterious incidents. At last the ship sails swiftly over the sea and the Mariner sees his native harbour. So the Mariner’s physical journey may be marked in this way-
Harbour è South ward è Equator èSouth Pole è Northward è Native Harbour.

Besides the physical journey of the Mariner, the main significance lies in the spiritual journey where there is a development of a soul from the stage of innocence to the stage of experience, and from stage of experience to the stage of super innocence where one can know one’s own self. In order to show this, the poet uses some symbols and some horrible and mysterious incidents that intensify the mode of the journey.

At the innocent stage of this journey, we observe that all are favourable for innocent joy, natural atmosphere. The Mariner says-
          “The ship was cheered the harbour cleared
            Merrily did we drop’’

He starts his journey with the cheerful faces of all people at the harbour including the ship, with no mark of disorder. This reminds us of the merry-time of birth when we generally begin our journey in this world. Again, there appears an Albatross bearing good omen and happenings. Here the Albatross is not a simple bird but it represents innocence, nature and God Himself. The Mariner says-
          “As if it had been a Christian soul
            We hailed it in God’s name.’’
In our world, similarly, Christ bearing good things for us came to save humanity. Moreover, the bird is an innocent creation of nature making a relation between God and our innocent world.

But the stage of innocence does not last long. It comes to an end with the killing of Albatross by the Mariner, as Christ was killed. Then the stage of experience begins. We should mention a stanza now-
          God save thee, ancient Mariner
          From the fiends that plague thee thus!-
          Why look’st thou so? – With my cross-bow
          I shot the Albatross.
Here a question may generally be raised that why the Mariner suddenly kills the bird. The answer may- from the indication of ‘fiends’ in the stanza above – be that something ‘evil’ prompted the Mariner to shoot the ‘Albatross’

Indeed, this killing is not an ordinary one, rather it is symbolically the killing of God’s representative, breaking of the relation between man and nature as well as man and God. Thus in the spiritual world, he commits a great sin.
In addition, in every religion we see a system of punishment for one’s sin.
So, here the Mariner must be punished --either physically or spiritually or both.

In the meantime, his physical punishment has already begun. The previous ‘glorious Sun’ has now become ‘bloody Sun’ just above them. They become as lifeless as painted picture and cannot do anything. The poet expresses it exactly in the stanza below-
          Day after day, day after day,
          We stuck, nor breath nor motion,
          As idle as a painted ship
          Upon a painted ocean.
#
          Water, water, every where,
          And all the boards did shrink
Even,
          Water, water, every where
          Nor any drop to drink.

Additionally their spiritual punishment also begins -
          The very deep did rot : O Christ
          That ever this should be!
          Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
          Upon the slimy sea.
          …..
          The death fires danced at night
          The water, like a witch’s oils.
Here extremely spiritual horror, from where the Mariner wants to be released by God, has been expressed. But as he feels hatred to the lower creation of nature created by God, his punishment is later increased with the Albatross which is hung about his neck, as the symbol of his sin.

In this way both of their mental and physical punishments gradually increase.  Suddenly a skeleton- ship appears between them and the Sun, as if an executioner between the criminal and the justice. There are in the ship, Death and life-in-Death playing at dice and their stake being the Mariner. The result is as follows- 
          The game is done! I’ve won! I’ve won!
          Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
          #
          The sun’s rim dips; the stars rush out:
That is the Mariner is won by Death in life, and with this, the court of the Sun is closed. Consequently all the sailors become dead, and only the Mariner remains ‘alive but in death’ to suffer lifelong agony.

However the cause of the sailors’ punishment is that they shared some of the Mariner’s crime by supporting him to kill the bird. But Mariner will suffer a lot. So he becomes ‘alone on a wide wide sea’ and no saint takes pity on his ‘soul in agony’.

Moreover, he discriminates between the upper creation and lower creation. He thinks that there are so many beautiful men but in death, while –
          ‘A thousand thousand slimy things
           Lived on and so did I


Consequently, he cannot say any prayer, rather his heart becomes ‘as dry as dust’, and yet the stage of experience continues.

Next, there happens a self- realization in the Mariners spirit or mind; he loves and blesses the lower creatures and can pray; and becomes free from his sin, Albatross, and reaches the stage of greater innocence
          O happy living things! No tongue
          Their beauty might declare:
          A spring of love gushed from my heart.
          And I blessed them unaware:
          Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
          And I blessed them unaware.
          #
          The self- same moment I could pray;
          From my neck so free
          The Albatross fell of, and sank
          Like lead into the sea.

At the end of the part V, from the second one of the two voices, we know the condition of the Mariner in the stage of greater innocence-
          ‘The man hath penance done
           And penance more will do’
Then he sees his native harbour and is rescued by the Pilot of the boat carrying a Hermit, after his boat has been sunk into the sea; he feels relief from his agony only when he has related the story of his journey to the Hermit. Since then, the Mariner occasionally experiences the same agony, and relates his journey to the men whom he chooses and thus gets relief. Actually, this indicates us the Christian term, ‘Confession of saints’.

Then, what is the result of this spiritual journey? – the Mariner prefers walking to the church to worldly merriment. Moreover, the wedding guest, having heard the whole story of the Mariner, does not go to the feast- as he has also become experienced like the Mariner through this journey and next becomes ‘A sadder and a wise man.’

In the Riders to Sea, Maurya also passed the stage of experience and reaches greater innocence through the realization that
“No man at all can be living for ever, and we must be satisfied.”
Her realization may be very simple to us but she herself realized it through a bitter experience and at last becomes very calm.

In spite of his having an innocent stage of joy and merriment in his kingship, Gautama Buddha experiences the sufferings of the people. Then having realized the truth of life, he becomes very tranquil and grave.

Again, there is same spiritual journey in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.  Marlow, the speaker of the story, being mostly like the Mariner, relates his journey to the dark part of the world, Congo. But the significance lies elsewhere-both Marlow and Curtze pass many phases of dark side of human soul and at last self-realization happens in them--for Curtze before his death, and for Marlow coming back from the girl’s house.


William Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience reveals how the innocent ‘Lamb’ turns into experienced ‘Tyger,’ and how there is a possibility of getting regeneration for it.

To sum up the discussion, we can say that journey does not prevail only in the ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’ Rather in every step of our life, we are always making journey – either physical or mental. However, the experienced stage of our soul is more important than the innocent. Because innocence is governed by God or natural intuition; but in the stage of experience there happens an experiment through which we may overcome the stage of experience and may reach the stage of greater innocence.