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Respect for Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner Essay

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Respect for Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a parable of a seaman's crime against nature (pointlessly killing an albatross) and his repentance by blessing the lowly water-snakes. Setting the poem in the Middle Ages in the then-unknown seas near Antarctica, the poet is able to make his narrative credible and give the reader what is called 'the willing suspension of disbelief.' "

This seven part ballad begins as a tale told by an "ancient Mariner" who has grabbed hold of a Wedding Guest and captivates his will by sharing his wild tale at sea: "The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: The Mariner hath his will." The ancient mariner tells us about a …show more content…

If we keep taking from nature, without giving her something back, we will be left without motion or water to drink. I can't help but think about the oil crisis. We rely so much on nature's oil, that once it's gone, we will be motionless (no cars, no electricity, no jobs). Our society is built around nature's resources and without them, we would crumble. If we keep polluting her water and wasting her water, we will be without a drop to drink. Coleridge is almost a kind of prophet trying to get everyone to understand how wonderful the earth is and if we keep abusing it, we will sufferfor nature will be avenged.

The lines that follow deal with death and punishment. Part 3, describes how the sailors' "throats unslaked, with black lips baked, We could nor laugh nor wail; Through utter drought all dumb we stood! I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, And cried, A sail! A sail! " Then all the shipmates die "Four times fifty living men, (And I heard nor sigh nor groan) With heavy thump, a lifeless lump, They dropped down one by one." And so the ancient mariner was "Alone, alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! A never a saint took pity on My soul in agony." He sat

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