The Infamous Albatross: A Romantic Symbol Surrounded by Literary Theories Turned Modern-Day, Metaphorical Idiom VERONICA URUBIO
MODERNITY
GARNERS influences of the
past that work to mold the present out of ideas
respective plights and yearnings in an everchanging society.
that have already been witnessed and built upon
Similarly, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 18th
throughout history. The Romantic period saw
Century “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
poetry based in nature as a means of revitalizing
considered the bird precious, promoting the
the
long-lost
Romantic belief that nature was inherently
happiness of days spent without technological
good and thus not to be trifled with (“Rime of
advancements used to master the materials
the Ancient Mariner” xxvii). Out of the many
of land, sea, and sky. However, innovators and
literary elements to come from this poem,
inventors alike envied the masters (and their
and to be popularized by later cultures, the
mastery) of the one domain man could never
albatross raises the greatest speculation as
truly claim as their own: the avians. Infamous
to what Coleridge wanted to propose by using
authors of the period—from John Keats to Percy
the motif; its symbolic power would later grow
Bysshe Shelley—found themselves enraptured
in fame, particularly in its evolution into a
by birds and their potential for expressing their
common idiom found in Europe. Contextualizing
nostalgia
for
humanity’s
V E R O N I C A U R U B I O (’22) is a junior English major with interests in creative writing, visual arts, and librarianship. This paper was written for Dr. Aimee Ross-Kilroy’s British Literature II during the Fall 2020 semester. Currently,
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Vero is working on two book series and a graphic novel when not in class or working at Loyola Marymount University’s own William H. Hannon Library.
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