Blogging Community Assignment "Significance of the Albatross"

While I was scanning through other blogs, I came across a particular blog that caught my eye. The poem, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Coleridge illustrates the challenges on the ship that the mariner comes across. This mariner is attending a weeding that takes place on a ship. Before the ceremony has even begun, the sky fills with gloomy clouds creating a vicious storm. The ship strolls along the ocean and ends up being surrounded by little lands of ice. After reaching this location, the sailors come across an Albatross flying about their boat. As soon as this bird came, pieces of ice became to break off and the ship slowly moved on its way. The mariner takes his bow and arrow and shoots it towards the Albatross. Bad luck had turned towards the ship and the sailors on board were furious. The sailors hung the dead Albatross around the mariner’s neck. A while after, they passengers died with wide open eyes, all looking at the mariner. He had began to pray about his sin and things slowly turned better. The ship was on its way back to it’s journey but the mariner had awful feelings about what he had done.

Angela Ly created a blog called “Significance of the Albatross” which describes her perspective of what the Albatross represents. The bird played a big role into the story although it was not exactly clear what it symbolized. Reading this poem the first time was confusing to understand. Angela explains that she believes that the Albatross teachers the readers from what’s right from wrong. She quotes, “When you do well for others, good things will happen to you.” While the bird is alive, everything seams to being going okay. After the mariner kills the bird, things change for the worst.

I liked how the blog expresses how much of an impact the bird makes in the story. Without the Albatross, the poem wouldn’t have a purpose. Romanticism ties into this story by the imagination and emotion Blake puts in. He thinks of the good and bad of human beings and what are the consequences that could happen to them.