And Penance More Will Do // Justin Johnson

             The Rime of the Mariner presents a fascinating picture of guilt and penance. The mariner has committed the crime of senselessly taking the life of one of God’s creatures which has brought him and his crew only fortune. What the sailor comes to find, however, is that this sin carries not the retaliation of death but instead the curse of the very opposite. The mariner suffers and watches his crew mates suffer and die at the hand of his failures, yet he himself cannot find escape in the release of death. 

            The sailors placed a penal burden of their own on the sailor, that of the very albatross he killed. The emotional and spiritual weight of this burden proves all the heavier than the physical, as the mariner cannot even bring himself to pray and face God himself while he bears this burden. It is only when he repents of his lack of appreciation for God’s creation that this burden frees itself of him, and it is after this that he finds himself once again free to turn to God in prayer. This is a pattern seen often in the lives of Christians. The burden of our sin is great, but the weight of guilt that we place on ourselves or have placed on us by others can be even greater. The shame placed on the mariner by the sailors both in life and in death brings him to an all-time low, but he cannot find escape through a death of his own. When he finally understands what he was missing before (that being an appreciation of the value of God’s creation) he is able to move on from this burden and find comfort in the refuge of those who save him from his sinking ship. Much like the albatross corpse around his neck, the ship itself was serving as a symbol of the mariner’s crimes, and when he is freed from that burden the ship relieves him of itself and falls away.

            The mariner’s story doesn’t quite end there, however. “The other was a softer voice,
As soft as honey-dew: Quoth he, "The man hath penance done, And penance more will do."”(406-409). As the final element of his penance, the mariner’s final task is to share his tale and what he has learned with the strangers he meets who need to hear it. When we are freed from a burden such as guilt or find truth through a struggle, it is often our reaction to simply be thankful for the freedom we have been given. However, if we do so an important aspect of the value of our deliverance has been lost. It is only in relaying what we’ve learned to others (especially our failures) that our journey can be completed. Even the worst of experiences can be brought to good, if naught else then as a warning those who find themselves on a similar path in life and may benefit from the shared experience of our mistakes. This is not simply a single act the mariner must do, but a continuous burden he must bear and share with others as he goes. In the same way, our calling to teach others through the testimonies of our lives, growth, and even failures is not simply to be a one time act, but a continuous sharing and growth as we go through our lives. The mariner lost many things throughout his journey in this poem, but the greatest loss of all would have been if he had never shared his tale with those he met as he wanders throughout this beautiful creation of which he has gained sacred appreciation