Literary Response to a Quote or Excerpt.

O happy living things! No tongue
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.

The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea. 

This excerpt is from one of my favorite poems, entitled "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner". The poem is about a man, an old and experienced mariner who is asked to lead a crew of men across the sea. He is cocky and sure of himself and his talents, and views this as an easy run, even though it is known to be dangerous. He is also self centered and views the sea and the life within as despicable and disposable. While on the sea there appears an albatross in the sky, and all the crew members and happy at this, as the albatross was seen as a good omen for sailors. However, the crew comes upon hard times when a thick fog appears and they can no longer see there way. The mariner decides to take matters into his own hands and shoots down the albatross with an arrow. The fog immediately lifts and the whole crew applauds the mariners actions. Unfortunately the mariner and the crew become lost and sea, and run out of food and water. As a result the crew turns on the mariner and blame him for there situation and hang the dead albatross around his neck as punishment and reminder. Eventually every single crew member, with the exception of the mariner, dies a slow death. The mariner is forced to suffer, unable to live, unable to die, and unable to pray for salvation, alone on the sea until death decides to take him.

The excerpt that I chose is the point at which the mariner is finally released from his torment. It is the point where he finally realizes that the sea and the nature around him is not just full of disgusting creatures that are disposable. He seas the beauty in the world and loves and appreciates the same creatures of the sea that he had previously found disgusting. As a result, he is released from his torment, the dead albatross falls from his neck, and the mariner is rescued by another boat.

I chose this excerpt, not only because it is one of my favorite poems, but because it expresses a love and passion for the environment. The author himself viewed the environment as very inspiring and important, as do I. I  feel very strongly about this poem because it expresses how I feel about nature as well, that it can release you from stress and bring you closer to God.