The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

by

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Ancient Mariner makes teaching easy.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Symbols

The Albatross

The albatross is a complicated symbol within the poem. Historically, albatross were seen by sailors as omens of good luck, and initially the albatross symbolizes this to the sailors when it appears just as a…

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Eyes

Other symbols and many of the themes in the poem exert their presence through the eyes. Firstly, the Mariner holds the Wedding Guest with his story, but also with his “glittering eye.” The eye…

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The Sun and Moon

The Sun and Moon symbolize the competing influences on the Mariner’s journey and on the world. The two compete with each other, at times embodying the forces of both the natural and supernatural world…

read analysis of The Sun and Moon