Romanticism is a literary attitude and an artistic evolution that surfaced towards the end of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century with the publication of the Preface to The Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1790. Romanticism as a movement is in odds to the earlier decorative literary rules of eighteenth-century Neo-Classicism and Enlightenment. This is why, amongst some of the salient characteristics of Romanticism, we see an emphasis on the subjective, personal experiences of the individual who is now the center or the subject of the universe, an individual who can create and debunk the earlier centered understandings of the world around him. Alongside, this individual is now also the individual artist who adheres to his creative faculties, who self-actualizes himself through his inner struggles and moments of self-epiphanies he is revealed with, in the context of the nature around him. Nature, along with Individualism and the Subjective Experience are markers of Romanticism Age.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a chief Romanticist who was involved in the publication of the Lyrical Ballads (1790) alongside Wordsworth and considers poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017). However, what makes Coleridge’s Rime of the Ancient Mariner rhyme in with the modern-day tune of reader likeability is how, this poem juxtaposes the ancient mariner’s freewill to predestination, with the mariner ultimately navigating his way to salvation through sincere redemption and grace. Therefore, for this essay, I will be going through the various stages of salvation, the ancient mariner experiences to achieve self-exaltation, using salvation to repent for the sin of killing the bird, Albatross.
However, before the sectional analysis of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, it is worthwhile to discuss specific terminologies, relevant to the Christian doctrine of salvation. First is the word salvation in itself. Put in context with religion, salvation means the restoration or the deliverance of humankind from such fundamentally adverse or disabling conditions as suffering, evil, finitude, and death. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). All religions provide a way for his followers to achieve salvation. Moreover, given the fact that there are various religions, it can be rightly argued that the means of attaining salvation also differ, across religions. In general, the ways of salvation shared by most of the religions is by the performance of certain rituals, by self-effort and self-actualization of the individual to reform his inner demons to the path of righteousness or by the belief and call to help from a divine savior such as Christ in Christianity. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). The latter that is belief and the call to help from a divine savior makes the process of salvation, predestined to some extent. Predestination, in a religious context, is the belief that God ultimately offers some with salvation whereas some not, making predestination due to the eternal decree of God’s will (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017). However, an individual does have the right to exercise his/her moral human will making predestination different from determinism and fatalism; even still, predestination is predestined in no small context. Religion-specific, salvation is achieved in Islam for instance by the observance of the step by step five pillars of Islam prescribed. Whereas, in Christianity, salvation can be sought in different ways. For example, the seven sacraments offer salvation in Roman Catholicism. Whereas, there are added pillars of salvation that other schools of Christianity have has to offer such as baptism, public confession and turning away from sins. However, it is worthwhile to note, that it all boils down ultimately to the Grace that is the unmerited gift from the divine power for the salvation of the sinners. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017).
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner as well, the Ancient Mariner goes through various stages of salvation. In the first Part of the poem, for instance, we see the ancient mariner publicly confess in the midst of a wedding of his sin, of having shot down an Albatross, a bird that used to ‘come to the mariner’s hollo, every day for food or play.’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) Moreover, nor did this bird only provide company to the mariner and the men onboard but this bird was a sign of good omen for them, a north star which used to help the mariner navigate the sails through tough weather conditions such as fog, mist, ice, and gails. However, with the Albatross shot and dead, the mariner laments and openly declares ‘God save thee, ancient Mariner!’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) towards the ending of the first part. This public confession made in the very beginning of the poem, by the mariner, shows his troubled psychology and inner consciousness grounding him to the guilt of his sin of having shot the albatross. Therefore, with the mariner acknowledging his sin, we see signs of the mariner’s attempts to achieve salvation.
In the second part of the poem, however, we read lamentation made on behalf of the mariner. The mariner acknowledges that he has had a ‘hellish thing,’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) of having shot down the albatross, a consequence of which is the hard effects of the nature around him. Before, the mariner had the albatross to navigate his sail through the tough weather conditions or blow the breeze for the mariner and other sailors to breathe fresh air. However, with the albatross shot, we see the harmonious momentum of nature disturbed with the ‘The bloody Sun, at noon, right up above the mast did stand…or the mariners in deep thirst and unable to drink water even after water everywhere.’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) At this part of the poem, we see the mariner not only lament but also ask for salvation from the divine savior by asking for Jesus’s gratitude towards the mariner. As a show of gratitude, the mariner, now looks to beautify the ‘slimy things that crawl with slimy legs,’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) and hopes he can seek salvation through his repentance of having been unable to acknowledge the importance of Albatross, a living specie in nature. At the very end of this part, the mariner sees the Albatross as a cross hanging from his neck. This symbol of the Albatross here can be taken figuratively to the crucifixion of Jesus. Just like Jesus suffered for the sins of humanity, similarly, the Albatross was a north star through times of difficulty for the mariner. However, with the Albatross shot dead, the mariner must seek true forgiveness for his sin.
In the third part of the poem, the ancient mariner is in a libido. On the one hand, the mariner is resentful for his action of the sin, that is shooting down the Albatross, but at the same time, the mariner is not completely sincere in his prayer to the divine savior to seek salvation. It is during this libidinal stage that the mariner confronts the ghost-like ‘Life-In-Death,’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) who is described as having ‘red lips, yellow hair, and white skin.’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) Life-In-Death ultimately trades in with Death, and the mariner seems to be in a dream, where he can see visions or in a psychological libido. This state of psychological libido is similar to Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe as well, who believes he can see angels and the devils before Faustus signs a pact with the devil. Therefore, in this part of the poem, the Mariner doesn’t show any clear signs of salvation. However, the mariner’s frenzy and mental anguish explain the mariner’s self-effort to acknowledge his responsibility for the cause of his sins and his commitment to seek salvation, altogether. However, as to why the mariner wants to find salvation here, the causes for which might differ. Is it again, that the mariner feels personally obliged to seek for forgiveness for his sins committed or is it more to do with the understanding to the inevitability of death?
In the fourth part of the poem, the ancient mariner is secluded and isolated. He is stranded in his loneliness as he stands alone, ‘alone on a wide wide sea.’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) At this point, the mariner is still in a psychological libido which goes on for seven days and seven nights for the mariner. This is because even though the mariner does want to seek salvation through repentance, his repentance and prayer is not entirely sincere and whenever he tries to pray, ‘a wicked whisper comes and makes his heart as dry as dust.’ (Poetry Foundation, 2017) Here, the mariner’s loneliness can also be interpreted in two ways.
On the one hand, the mariner’s seclusion annotates the punishment that the mariner is subjected to for, having killed an Albatross as once the mariner who was surrounded by the human company around him, is left all alone with only the overriding and magnificent forces of nature. Whereas, on the other hand, the mariner’s seclusion could help explain the mariner’s self-epiphany and ultimately self-actualization that makes him repent for his sins with sincerity towards the end of the poem. This is because it is during this self-epiphany the mariner realizes his fatal involvement of the soul with the physical universe and that he should sincerely evoke prayers for true salvation.
Ultimately, after this moment of self-epiphany, the ancient mariner does seek salvation. This is because the mariner evokes the images of divine savior such as Virgin Mary and wishes how he could be blessed with the guided like the sheep looked after by Jesus. The mariner also here, hopes he can shed away any humanly evil he has inside and wants to become as innocent as a lamb.
Therefore, it can be argued that the mariner’s salvation by his belief and call for help from Jesus and other divine saviors such as Virgin Mary or the Albatross itself, grants the mariner salvation, towards the very end. This again validates the point of view, that even though salvation might be predestined according to Christianity, redemption made through a sincere means can allow even the sinned individuals such as the mariner to enter God’s grace. And this is what makes the Rime of the Ancient Mariner in rhyme to the interests of the modern day audiences. This is because, as modern day audiences, no matter how free we might assume we might be, we still are in some ways clung to the clutches of predestination.
Bibliography
Encyclopedia Britannica. (2017). salvation | religion. [online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/salvation-religion [Accessed 6 Jun. 2017].
Poetry Foundation. (2017). The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (text of 1834) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. [online] Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43997 [Accessed 6 Jun. 2017].