2007-01-10 19:31:06 · 9 answers · asked by virgodevil 1 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
Meaning
A burden which some unfortunate person has to carry.
Origin
"Albatross" comes from a Spanish word for "pelican", and it was regarded as bad luck to kill one of these birds. Samuel Coleridge used the metaphor of an albatross in his poem "The Ancient Mariner".
A reference to the poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which the character who shot an albtross is obliged to carry the bird hung around his neck.
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Summary:
Three young men are walking together to a wedding, when one of them is detained by a grizzled old sailor.The Mariner says that he sailed on a ship out of his native harbor.the sailors encountered an Albatross, a great sea bird.The Mariner confesses that he shot and killed the Albatross with his crossbow. At first, the other sailors were furious with the Mariner for having killed the bird that made the breezes blow. But when the fog lifted soon afterward, the sailors decided that the bird had actually brought not the breezes but the fog; they now congratulated the Mariner on his deed. The wind pushed the ship into a silent sea where the sailors were quickly stranded.The sailors blamed the Mariner for their plight and hung the corpse of the Albatross around his neck like a cross...-
2007-01-14 17:21:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Meaning: A burden which some unfortunate person has to carry.
Origin : A reference to the poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which the character who shot an albatross is obliged to carry the bird hung around his neck.
God save thee, ancient Mariner
From the fiends, that plague thee thus
Why look'st thou so ? - With my cross-bow
I shot the ALBATROSS.
...
Ah. well a-day. what evil looks
Had I from old and young
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung.
2007-01-11 13:49:26 · answer #2 · answered by Latitude 360 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
albatross was considered as an holy bird .like in the poem "rhyme of ancient mariner" as the albatross came ,everyone on the ship thought nw they wud b out danger bt wen the mariner shot the albatross their fate suddenly changed. they suddenly came in all sorts of troubles.then all the crew blamed the mariner n burdened his soul wit the blame of gettin them all into trouble 2 his name .this is wht albatross round one's neck mean
2007-01-11 04:53:09 · answer #3 · answered by me_coolrahul09 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As in the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, to kill an albatross is to bring very bad luck to the ship. Any sailor who did so would have to stand with the dead albatross around his neck until the bad luck was removed.......................
2007-01-11 03:39:13 · answer #4 · answered by thomasrobinsonantonio 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It means you are cursed for doom. Its from an old fable about a fisherman. I don't remember the details but you don't want to kill an albatross or even be near one.
2007-01-11 03:37:47 · answer #5 · answered by Tumbling Dice 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think it means you did something bad, so you're gonna get it. it used to be considered bad luck to kill an albatross, so if someone did it, they would have to wear the corpse around their neck.
2007-01-11 03:40:18 · answer #6 · answered by meep 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A couple of folks have it almost right. It's from Coleridge's poem, but it's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, not rhyme (though it does rhyme).
2007-01-11 09:50:26 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
hey this line was in poem sumthng like ancient mariner in class X. anyways its a very imp poem academically...it means u r cursed and sumthng evil will appen
2007-01-11 08:54:28 · answer #8 · answered by shifali 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A heavy burden that could break a person.
2007-01-11 05:19:50 · answer #9 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋