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The word albatross is sometimes used to mean an encumbrance, or a wearisome burden.^[1] It is an allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798). Samuel Taylor Coleridge (October 21, 1772 – July 25, 1834) (pronounced ) was an English poet, critic, and philosopher who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romantic Movement in England and one of the Lake Poets. ... One of a set of engraved metal plate illustrations by Gustave Doré: the Mariner up on the mast in a storm. ... Year 1798 (MDCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ...

In the poem, an albatross starts to follow a ship, and is seen as a good omen. However the titular mariner shoots the albatross with a crossbow, and attributes all the mishaps that follow to this. The symbolism used in the poem is its highlight. For example: Poetry (ancient Greek: poieo = create) is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. ... This article is about the bird family. ...

Ah ! well a-day ! what evil looks

Had I from old and young !

Instead of the cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung.

This sense is catalogued in the Oxford English Dictionary from 1936 and 1955, but it seems only to have entered general usage in the 1960s. The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is the most successful dictionary of the English language, (not to be confused with the one-volume Oxford Dictionary of English, formerly New Oxford Dictionary of English, of... Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969. ...

Also, the word albatross is used in page six of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which Robert Walton is speaking to his sister through a letter and states,"...but I shall kill no albatross...", an allusion quite clearly referring to the poem by her close acquaintance, Coleridge. The novel was first published in 1818, long before the term was introduced into the Oxford Dictionary.

Charles Baudelaire's collection of poems Les Fleurs du mal contains a poem entitled L'Albatross about men on ships who shoot the birds with bows and arrows for sport. In the final stanza, he goes on to compare the birds to poets - exiled from earth and weighed down by their giant wings. “Baudelaire” redirects here. ... Les Fleurs du Mal (literal trans. ...

In music

Post-Punk band Public Image ltd have a song named 'Albatross' on their 1979 album Metal Box. lyrics include:

getting rid of the albatross

Sowing the seeds of discontent

riding along on the crest of a wave

The progressive rock band, Pink Floyd, speaks of an albatross in their 23 minute song, Echoes. the lyrics start out: Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic or space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. ...

Overhead the albatross hangs motionless upon the air

And deep beneath the rolling waves, in labyrinths of coral caves,

The echo of a distant tide comes willowing across the sand,

And everything is green and submarine.

The experimental Scottish-born/British musician, Momus (Nick Currie), alludes to this metaphor in his 1988 song "The Charm of Innocence." The refrain is: For the Scottish artist and singer see Momus (artist) Momus or Momos (μῶμος), in Greek mythology the god of satire, mockery, writers, poets, a spirit of evil-spirited blame and unfair criticism. ... Ultraconformist, voyager, timelord, tennis and ping pong champion, tender pervert, poison boyfriend, hippopotamus, philosopher, folk singer, star forever Nick Currie (born February 11, 1960), more popularly known by the pseudonym Momus, is a Scottish-born songwriter. ...

I was born with the charm of innocence

On my back like a cross

Thorns upon my forehead

Round my neck I wore it

Sometimes a rabbit's claw

Sometimes an albatross

Also in music Rickie Lee Jones refers to this metaphor in her song 'The Albatross'

The lyrics begin:

There, there is my ship Finally come in I see the mast rolling on the steps Over the garden wall I hear the sailor's call I see the albatross

Also, the Little River Band's song "Cool Change" contains the lyrics: Little River Band is an Australian rock band formed in Melbourne in 1975 and named after a road sign for the Victorian township of Little River, near Geelong. ...

Well I was born in the sign of water And it's there that I feel my best The albatross and the whales they are my brothers There's lots of those friendly people And they're showing me ways to go And I never want to lose their inspiration

The punk rock band Bad Religion also references the albatross in their song "It's a Long Way to the Promised Land." The lyrics start out: Bad Religion is a seminal American punk rock band, formed in Southern California in 1980 by Jay Bentley (bass), Greg Graffin (vocals), Brett Gurewitz (guitars) and Jay Ziskrout (drums). ...

It's a long way

To the promised land

So you better well know your way

There's a ship on the ocean

And an albatross who is trying to lead you astray

Brave Saint Saturn also has a song titled "Albatross" where they compare the albatross to the christian cross. Brave Saint Saturn is a Christian rock band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1995. ...

Around my neck there is an albatross.

Some people think it looks, looks like a cross,

But it's not, it's - well it's an albatross.

There to remind me of who I'll never be, never be, never be.

In the song Rebels of the Sacred Heart by Irish/Californian "punk" band Flogging Molly singer Dave King sings: Flogging Molly is a seven-piece Irish American punk band that formed in Los Angeles and is currently signed under SideOneDummy Records. ...

"the albatross hanging round your neck, is the cross you bear for he sins he bleeds"

....comparing the albatross to the Catholic cross, the song being about life as a Irish Catholic school rebel-youngster

Hardcore/Prog band Converge have a song titled "Albatross," using the metaphor to describe the regret and guilt felt after the death of five friends.

The word albatross was also used in the poem "Snake" by D. H. Lawrence

Also in Iron Maiden's famous song The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (album: Powerslave) written by Steve Harris (bassist) and talks all about the rime by Coleridge.

External links

• A cartoon appearing in The Economist newspaper that alludes to the described metaphor .

References