The Mariner Symbolism

The Mariner begins to tell his story, about how they were sailing near a foggy ice land , where an albatross appears in the sky. The Mariner decides to shoot it, and after he shot it, he explains how the atmosphere changes and how the sailors ran out of water.Towards the end of part two he writes, “The death-fires danced at night/The water, like a witches oils/Burnt green and blue and white/And some in dreams assured were/Of the spirit that plagued us so/Nine fathom deep he had followed us/From the land of mist and snow. Coleridge blends the real world with some foreshadowing to create the supernatural world. He compares the ocean’s colors to a witch’s spell or potion which is commonly associated with evil. The comparison also symbolizes that the water suddenly turning against them.He mentions that some of the sailors had dreamt of an evil spirit that had cursed …show more content…
The ancient mariner notices a ship moving towards them.Then the ancient mariner realizes that it is a ghost ship and death is steering the ship.Then suddenly all two hundred sailors, drop dead right in front of him.He explains by saying, “One after one,by the star-dogged moon/Too quick for a groan or sigh/Each turned his face with ghastly pang/And cursed me with his eye/Four times fifty living men/(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)/With heavy thump, a lifeless lump/They dropped down one by one,”. The supernatural element of this piece of the poem, is the idea that that the sailors all died at once as a result of the mariner killing the albatross. Coleridge repeats that the sailors did not struggle or make a sound as they died. Correspondingly, he mentions that each of the sailor’s face changed into a painful emotion of horror. As they died, each of them faced the mariner with an evil eye. This is a sign of the Mariner’s guilty conscience. The supernatural world punishes him,for his deed of killing the