What This Collection Is
An ancient, bearded sailor corners a wedding guest to recount a disastrous maritime voyage. After the sailor pointlessly shoots an albatross, his crew suffers a drought of biblical proportions, dying on a still, rotting deck. The sailor remains alive, abandoned amidst a sea of corpses and slimy creatures, until he undergoes a strange, involuntary epiphany about the sanctity of all living things. Driven by supernatural forces, he eventually reaches land, where he is cursed to wander the earth forever, cornering unwilling listeners to share his unsettling lesson. The wedding guest, initially eager for the feast, walks away significantly less enthusiastic about his morning.
Figures & speakers
- Mariner
A ragged survivor doomed to repeat his tale forever.
- Wedding-Guest
An unwilling audience member detained from a party.
- Hermit
A woods-dwelling religious figure who inspects the weathered ship.
What it's really about
- Isolation
- Total solitude produces terrifying sensory hallucinations.
- Guilt
- A singular act ruins an entire ecosystem.
Why it's memorable
- A man biting his own arm to draw blood for a shout.
- Fire-flags dancing in the air above a ghost-ridden, windless ship.
Where it lands
The listener wanders away, transformed from a party guest into a stunned, melancholy man.
For your book club
- Is the Mariner actually sane?
- Does the albatross represent anything specific?