Major theme in the poem, "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", published in 1798 in the 1st edition of "Lyrical Ballads" is one ofthe longest major poems by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. In short, the central theme of the poem is sin  and repentance.

       The poet here wants to give us a message of love, unity and humanity through the sin, suffering and repentance of the Mariner, who is the central object of attraction in this poem.

       The Mariner commits a sin by killing the albatross, one of God's beloved creatures. And for this crime, he has to atone althroughout his life by suffering and humility. What the author wants to mean is that all earthly beings are God's beloved ones and we must not hurt any one of them. And here the Mariner mercilessly slaughtered the albatross and that's why he has to suffer in his life time.

     The poem also shows us that if one is guilty of his sin or crime and he or she becomes repentant of it, then God pardons him or her. Here we see that when the Mariner is guilty of his crime and unknowingly blessed the snakes, another beloved creature of God, God also blessed him back and he was freed