I stumbled across this old masterpiece while browsing through a famous poems list. Instantly transported back to my school days, I faintly remembered the drudgery of trying to understand the line by line connotations as dictated by our teacher and the fact that I just ploughed through it without really enjoying it. Fast forward to 2020, and desperate to make a better attempt this time around, I delved right into it.
The poem is an 18th century work written in old English. It starts with an ancient sailor stopping a wedding guest on his way to attend a wedding gala and starts narrating to him a story from his past. The guest, though initially hesitant, is slowly drawn into the story like a moth to a flame. The poem then follows the sailor's sea voyage, which starts on a cheerful note but quickly becomes a disaster when the ship is hit by a storm and they are stuck in the middle of nowhere, out of food and supplies. An albatross, unheard of in those regions, crosses their path, bringing favorable winds and good weather and guides them out of trouble. The bird is celebrated and cheered as a harbinger of good luck until the sailor shoots it down. The tale then delves into the hellish experiences which follow him and the ship after this incident, with death, sea monsters and devilish creatures, all blending into the narrative.
Though occasionally a bit difficult to understand because of its archaic style, it is written in a wonderful rhythmic fashion and is a joy to read. It is haunting and spectral, yet tantalizingly beautiful. The imagery conveyed in the poem, both fearsome (bordering on diabolical at times) and pleasant in its vagaries, hit me with a strong evocative force.
“Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.“
“And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.”
The beauty about this poem is its allegory. It can be read many times, each time with different interpretations. The killing of the albatross is symbolic and always raises a healthy philosophical discussion about why he did it. I agree, the "why" is extremely important. If somebody attempts to think deeply about the poem and its central theme, an answer to the "why" question unlocks clues as to the events that transpired afterwards.
My two cents on the matter? I think the poem conveys a very simple idea: You always suffer the consequences of your bad deeds. Showing love towards all creatures big or small is the way to live life.
“Farewell, farewell! But this I tell
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest!
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast.”
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
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