ALBATROSS--award winner

ALBATROSS


"O Albatross, the vintage bird,
Sentry of lonely sky,
Why bemoan the selfish sailor?
Why let out plaintive cry?

You gave hope and sustenance to
Him when his hope faltered.
But, in a satanic act he
Let his soul be bartered.

While hung around his neck, did you
Peep in the sailor's eye?
Tell me if any remorse did,
In him you ever spy?"

"No not a tear of remorse did
My death in his eye bring.
To him I was nothing more than
A wretched slimy thing."

"Albatross, pray tell me how was
His soul retrieved at last.
All alone, how did he steer through
The mighty ocean vast?"

"As he looked down, he saw sea snakes,
And, with grace, blessed them he.
Soon as he spoke, so did I sink
Like lead into the sea".



• Written in abcb, 8-6-8-6 format
• Awarded first place in Eternally Our Friends Poetry Contest, "~Eternally Our Friends Poetry Contest~" , 10th round, hosted by :O its gone!!

• This is a conversation between the albatross and the poet in the background of the "Rime of the ancient mariner", a seven part tale recounted by Coleridge. A summary of the same can be viewed at http://www.awerty.com/mariner2.html. Viewing this is recommended for a fuller understanding of the present poem.
Two relevant stanzas from Coleridge are given below-

• "The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie:
And a thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I". -Coleridge


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


• Albatross, the sailor's friend, is fast becoming extinct. To know why, view http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/About_Antarctica/Wildlife/Birds/Albatrosses.html

* Initially written as item 900971, deleted on 1 October 2005 and replaced by entry 376538 in the book MISCELLANEA , "MISCELLANEA" . Posted as the present static item, 14 May 2008.

M C Gupta
17 October 2004