Here's one theory:
"The story is about Samuel T. Coleridge and his inspiration for writing 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'. His inspiration, it seems, was a severe addiction to opium and a desire to kill his wife"
and here's another
"Thee of the Ancient Mariner” is not a direct religious sermon, but there are many strong references to the Christian religion throughout the poem, which one can only assume stem from Coleridge's own religious beliefs. Although Coleridge did not take the religious images in this poem directly from the Bible, much of his inspiration for the poem seemed to be based on religious ideas, especially that of the Apocalypse. Coleridge integrates natural symbols, which are associated with the religious symbols, in to this poem in order to further emphasize his belief that God is present everywhere in nature, and that one can sent into this state of paradise when this love for God is discovered. In representing the aspects of salvation with concepts of the sea, Coleridge makes his message of repentance and humility easier to understand. By using imagery from the Apocalypse and religious symbolism in nature, Coleridge created an incredible poem which expresses how the realization of divine love within oneself has the power to heal pain and suffering."
And this one rather agrees with the previous one (and with my opinion):
The "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" as a Romantic Version of the Fall
From the beginning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner has stimulated speculation and criticism regarding its meaning. Twentieth century criticism has primarily fallen into two camps. A number of critics have suggested that Coleridge presents a perverse universe, irrational and capricious. Buchan focuses on the "incongruity of the moral and the experience described in the poem--a world of accusing eyes, sweating corpses and fiendish looks." Fulmer complains that the moral is "unjust, unchristian,nd invalid as a law of religion." Bostetter asserts that the dice game shows the caprice that lies at the heart of the universe. Finally Fruman complains that the poem expresses a "morally bizarre" universe as evidenced by the "deaths of 200 sailors for their post approval of the slaughter of a bird by a man.
On the other hand, Micheal Burke notes that a number of critics beginning with Robert Penn Warren and G. Wilson Knight have interpreted the poem as Christian in both myth and symbol, telling a tale of sin , fall, redemption, penance, baptism, and a profound faith in God's benevolence. The poem becomes Biblical myth, detailing one man's journey from grace into sin and, ultimately, to a dogmatic love of God (1)."
I think the "inspiration" was not religion but faith.
The wedding guest represents the reader.
"Coleridge immediately establishes a relationship between the wedding guest and the reader in the poem's first five stanzas. The Mariner holds the wedding-guest, who is also a groomsman, against his will: Hold off! Unhand me, grey-beard loon! (11). Coleridge's audience connects with the significance of a wedding and more importantly the seriousness of missing it. Here, the audience closely identifies with the wedding guest; he lacks defining qualities and thus represents an average man. The reader easily substitutes him or herself as the wedding guest."
2007-09-14 05:39:52
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answer #1
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answered by johnslat 7
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I read in my source of both people and a thing were inspirational to Coleridge: his friendship with Wordsworth, his translations of many German poets' works, including Friedrich von Schiller who wrote the poem of the same name that Beethoven used for the Chorale for his Ode to Joy in the Ninth Symphony ... and opium, used by Coleridge to ease rheumatism.
As for the Rime of the Ancient Mariner, I would guess Coleridge's friendship with Wordsworth was the main inspiration for this poem, as the two of them put out a book anonymously called "Lyrical Ballads"---the first of which was the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. In fact, the Rime was the only piece in the book that WAS a ballad (a narrative poem), and was later published separately, with notes by Coleridge in some copies.
The wedding guest is the audience, a person present at the same wedding the mariner is and who turns to the mariner expecting an amusing anecdote but getting this horrific tale of death and destruction instead.
However, even though we don't ever know why the albatross is killed in the first place and a few other 'details', all ends well for the upholding of life, since the mariner is condemned to roam praising life... (very Wordsworthian, in my view).
You can read more in my source or go to this link for a timeline of Coleridge's life, a bibliography, essays, excerpts of poems and more:
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/stc/C
2007-09-14 06:20:06
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answer #2
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answered by LK 7
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For the first part, this poem was written along with Wordsworth, at least according to my English 458 professor. The voice in this poem-- and old, salty man recalling his younger years is also significant. Gone is the high-minded and detached narrator, in comes the true-to-life, down-to-earth human. This made a significant political statement, especially in light of Rousseauvian ideals and the French Revolution.
2007-09-14 06:04:58
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answer #3
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answered by le_fantome_de_la_bibliotheque 2
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Opium in his early years..probably later still..the sea as a landscape and the albatross as fate..the mariner was an observer/participant as we all are of life..sometimes protagonists..sometimes detached. I think the wedding guest was the recipient of the tale as told.You will have to do your own reading..this is my memory from High School..1971..something like that.
2007-09-14 05:49:30
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answer #4
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answered by kit walker 6
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