- ‘skinny hand’
The Mariner’s hand is death-like, skeletal. Reinforces the argument that he is dead?
- ‘the ice was here, the ice was there, / The ice was all around’
Ice is everywhere in Part 1 - nature seems cruel. Makes the sun seem even more welcoming in the next part.
- ‘if it had been a Christian soul, / We hailed it in God’s name’
Here, the Mariner’s crime becomes more than just killing a bird. It is a “Christian soul” - Christ? A human? Does it represent the concept of the One Life principle, in which all living beings are equal.
- “With my crossbow / I shot the Albatross”
The murder occurs. Has he killed Christ? It was with a “cross” bow that the Albatross was killed.
- “The Sun” “Still hid in the mist” A good omen after the “mist and snow”?
First description of the sun, which is personified as “he”. But, it is hiding in mist - is it deceptive, appears to be a good omen but really is not? Reveals the criminal nature of God?
- “Sweet bird”
The Albatross is an evident victim - what adjective is used to describe it by the Mariner?
- “I had done a hellish thing”
The Mariner’s first sign of guilt. How does he describe his crime? His punishment could seem fitting for a “hellish crime” as some critics have argued that his punishment is representative of hell.
- “like God’s own head, / The glorious Sun uprist”
As the sun rises, it is likened to God. God is imposing punishment? Could create visual image of Albatross’ blood in the sky. Or could be nature’s vengeance.
- “Twas right”, They “thus make themselves accomplices in the crime”
What do the sailors first say about killing the Albatross? As a result of this, what does Coleridge say in the gloss, perhaps making them criminals too? The voice of Coleridge himself seems to justify their punihsment.
- “All in a hot and copper sky, / The bloody sun”
The sky is hot and coppery - hellish imagery; God is vengeful? The Albatross’ blood taints the sky - suggested by “copper”?
- “As idle as a painted ship/ Upon a painted ocean”
Unrealistic, nightmarish nature of the boat’s isolation is presented through the way its idleness is presented as?
- “Water, water, everywhere/ Nor any drop to drink”
The ultimate punishment - to be surrounded by things you desire but denied it nonetheless. Lack of water could also symbolise his moral depravity. It is as if nature is mocking him as well as physically abusing him.
- “Slimy things did crawl with legs/ Upon the slimy sea.”
Slimy things: Mariner seems disgusted by nature - is his disrespect for nature the reason for his punishment?
- “The water, like a witches oils”
Is the water cursed? Element of supernatural at work? Or is he disrespecting nature? Oil and water don’t mix. The Mariner’s crime has tainted the pure water.
- “We could not speak, no more than if/ We had been choked with soot”
The Mariner can’t speak due to dehydration. Instead of water (purity) he is filled with soot - blackness. Moral depravity? Also evokes the sense that he is in hell.
- “Instead of the cross, the Albatross / About my neck was hung”
The sailors are physically giving the burden of guilt to the Mariner - are they therefore relieving themselves of that burden? People wear the cross as a reminder of Christ’s suffering - the Albatross constantly reminds the mariner of his crime.
- “A weary time! A weary time”
The Mariner, in his dehydration and length of the journey is going through a weary time. The length of this stanza emphasises the lengths of his struggle.
- “With throats unslaked, with black lips baked”
Throats unslaked and black lips; some have suggested this is representative of the slave trade? Is the poem commenting on greater crime?
- “I bit my arm, I sucked the blood, / And cried, A sail! A sail!”
The first time the Mariner imposes pain/punishment upon himself. Is this a step forward in his penance? Christ’s blood had healing powers of salvation, and sucking this blood gives him the power to speak. Allegory of the Eucharist?
- “The Sun (…) as if through a dungeion-grade he peered/ With broad and burning face”
As the ghost-ship approaches, it is as if the natural world is being left behind and the Mariner is entering a ‘dungeon’ of a new world. The supernatural world? Hell? He is faced with God’s wrath as he enters the dungeon of hell?
- “They fled to bliss or woe”
The sailors have an opportunity to go to heaven, they have a chance at forgiveness but the Mariner does not.
- “Every soul, it passed me by/ Like the wizz of my crossbow!”
How do the souls of the dead sailors fly past the Mariner? It is a reminder of his crime, and the fact that it has resulted in death.
- “Alone, alone, all, all alone! / Alone on a wide, wide sea!”
After the Sailors’ death, the Mariner is desperately alone. The assonance and alliteration create an almost echo-like sound, magnifying his loneliness and isolation.
- He “tried to pray” but “A wicked whisper came, and made / My heart as dry as dust”
What happens to the Mariner when he first tries to pray? He is suffering a moral drought as well as a physical one. It seems even God has abandoned him. He can’t even undergo redemption.
