Rime of the Ancient Mariner

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The poem is a metaphor for our present times. The Albatross beautiful and innocent supports the mariner and the crew of the ship, but the mariner heedlessly shoots the Albatross. Presently humans with no regard for the future of nature destroy not only the atmosphere but the earth on which we depend. Pesticides and herbicides destroy small living creatures essential to the earth’s productivity and this natural process is being replaced by the use of chemicals. The melting of the arctic ice, rising temperatures, drought, floods, forest fires threaten the sustainability of our planet. The mariner eventually by the joy and appreciation of the beauty of what he sees in nature redeems himself. Can we be so fortunate?

“He prayeth best, who loveth best all things both great and small: For the dear God who loveth us, he made and loveth all.”