“The Rime of theAncient Mariner” is the greatest achievement of S.T Coleridge. The whole story of the poem is based on the theme of crime committed by a mariner and the punishment which he had to undergo after the act of crime. In fact, the poem is an allegory of guilt and regeneration.

"Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a Poem of Crime and Punishment:

As we go through the poem we find that the Ancient Mariner wantonly killed the Albatross, which was a bird of good omen, and which signifies the violation of the sanctified relations of the host ad guest. It is a symbolic representation of the essential frivolity of many crimes against humanity and the ordered system of the world.

The Mariner’s two hundred shipmates partake his guilt because they approve of his misdeed by saying that the Mariner was right to kill the Albatross which brought fog and mist. Thus the whole crew including the Mariner was guilty to be punished. So the ship is suddenly becalmed. The sun shone directly overhead. Their supply of drinking water was finished. There was water everywhere around them but they had no a drop to drink.

Then the ship of Death came with two figures “Death and Life-in-Death” for severe punishment. It carried away the souls of the sailors except the old Mariner. The Mariner has committed a sin against God’s creation as well as God. So he is alienated from both of them. For more punishment he remains:

“Alone, alone, all, all alone,

Alone on a wide, wide sea!

And never a saint took pity on

My soul in agony”

The climax of his suffering is reached when for seven days and seven nights he tried to pray but could not break the sailors curse and he does not die. Then under the benign influence of the moon, the Mariner watches some beautiful water snakes swimming round the ship. He was fascinated by their colours and blessed them unaware. Immediately he is able to pray and the dead Albatross falls into the sea from his neck signifying his partial redemption.

Then the Mariner is able to sleep and when he gets up it was raining. Raining brings him comfort and freshness. The ship begins to move with the rearing sound of the wind. He reaches back to his own country.

Through this fairy tale, the poet gives us a moral teaching the teaching is that if a man commits any injustice to any creature of God, he is sure to be punished. He should not look down upon any creation of God, though it may be small and ugly. He should love every creation of God. He should remember that sympathy and love is the best prayer, his best way to be redeemed.

Thus the story of the Ancient Mariner has a multi-faceted richness of meaning. It is a story of spiritual adventure a story of crime, punishment and reconciliation, story of sin, expiation and redemption, a story revealing the secret of communal and family harmony and the harmony of natural order of the universe all in one.