Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

By: Samuel T. Coleridge

The Albatross

• Albatrosses, with their wandering life cycles and ability to be seen thousands of miles from any land, have fascinated mankind for hundreds of years.

• Albatrosses are nomadic birds that spend months wandering great distances over the oceans. They sleep while floating on the ocean surface, drink seawater, and feed on cuttlefish, other small marine animals, and often seek refuse on ships

• A superstition commonly held by sailors has long been that killing an albatross brings bad luck. The superstition forms the theme of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

• A leader of the romantic movement, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote poetry, essays, and criticism during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. As a poet, Coleridge crafted lyric verse with dreamlike imagery and deep symbolism.

• Albatrosses, as symbols of good luck, feature in one of the greatest narrative poems of the English language’s Coleridge's "The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner". Even today Albatrosses are creatures of wonder and awe.

• The significance of this symbol within the “Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner,” is very clear. With the death of the albatross, came the death of the mariners luck as well.