As the saying goes no good deed goes unrewarded....

As the saying goes no good deed goes unrewarded. Coleridge, in his poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, tells a story that no evil deed shall go unpunished. For every action there is an appropriate consequence equal to or greater than the original action. In the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Coleridge explains this through the crime committed by the ancient Mariner and the consequences forced upon him for his actions as seemed fit by the spiritual world. The albatross had flown to the side of the Mariner’s ship and guided the ship through the fog. â€Å"At lengths did cross an albatross through the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, we hailed it in God’s name.†(64-66). Coleridge tells us that the albatross was a†¦show more content†¦I believe that the events to fall upon the ancient mariner are consequences for blessings he destroyed. The second punishment was more of a physiologic punishment placed upon the Ancient Mariner instead of a physical one. Life and death soon appear and play a game of chance to determine the fortune of the Mariner and his crew. â€Å"the game is done, I’ve won.† (43). Winning the game apparently means survival as death takes the lives of the two hundred men aboard the ship. Life in death nonetheless blesses the Mariner with eternal life. This had become his punishment because the Mariner could no longer pray, sleep, and every day must live with the agonizing loss of his men aboard his now forsaken ship. â€Å"Alone, Alone, all, all alone, Alone on a wide wide sea! And never a saint took pity on My soul in agony.† (236-39). It is clear that the Ancient Mariner is being punished by the divine. In the same way the Mariner killed the Albatross the spiritual forces are in a way killing him. The Albatross is dead and now the Ancient Mariner is metaphorically dead also. This is apparent as the Mariner has been isolated in the middle of the ocean where everything all around him is the same and lifeless. Just as if he were to be dead and buried in the ground, there would be dirt to his left and to his right without a single soul to keep him company. The only way for the Mariner to ease his pain is