L'Albratoss - A Lyrical Ballad
L’Albatross -
A Lyrical Ballad
It’s
a bird…..It’s a plane…….It’s Albatross
The
name Albatross prompts a flash back to my high school days in 1970’s the most famous English poem “The Rhyme of The Ancient
Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, an English poet. It’s a pretty great poem with strong human
emotions. Albatross is considered to be
a pious, good luck sea bird. It follows
the ship and considered as a good omen by the Mariner aka Captain.
“An
Albatross appears and leads them out of Antartic”.
An Albatross shows up and steer them through
the fog and provide good wind.
“The
ice was all around,
It
cracked and growled,
And
roared and howled,
Like
noises in Sound!
Through
the fog it came”.
An
Albatross aloft is a spectacular sight. Albatross has longest wingspan up to 11
ft. (3.4 meters). The wide winged and
long lived Albatrosses are rarely seen in land preferring to stay out on the
ocean except to raise and mate their young.
The Albatrosses use their formidable wingspan to ride the ocean winds
and sometimes to glide for hours without rest or even a flap of their
wings. They also float on the sea
surface. An Albatross has a life span of
50 years. The Ornithologists are
fascinated by Albatross. They eat fish
and drink salt water. An albatross is the most legendary of all birds.
Some
people hunt Albatross with a cross bow.
“The
spirit who bideth by himself
in
the land of mist and snow,
He
loved the bird that loved the man
Who
shot him with his bow”.
Ma
Nishada…..don’t shoot the bird that loved man.
It reminds us of Jadayu, the legendary bird from Ramayana that tried to
stop Ravana from absconding Sita.
“He
prayeth best, who loveth best
All
things both great and small;
Dear
bird who loveth us
He
made and loveth all.”
The
poet resembles this prince of cloud and sky –
“
A wind from the South
Propelled
the ship
As
it returned Northward
Through
fog and floating ice”.
Samuel
Taylor Coleridge was a poet, critic and a philosopher most famous for Lyrical
Ballads. He co-authored “Lyrical
Ballads” a collection of poems with the famous English poet William Wordsworth.
The
poems still retains its hypnotic strength.
The
name Albatross featured in many works of books, fiction, songs, bands etc.
through centuries.
In
Herman Melvilles’ “Moby Dick” there is a
reference to Coleridge’s Albatross which is extended to fit the narrative’s
focus on the symbolic connotations of whiteness.
Albatross
studio version – Fleetword Mac is one of the greatest instrumental tracks of
all time. This song is a biggest ever
selling Rock instrumental hit in the U.K. A
beautiful, haunting, thought invoking piece of music.
The
Lyrical Ballads are romantic poems of Victorian Era.
“Hymn
before Sunrise” is a Lyrical Ballad.
“Water, water everywhere
Nor any drop to drink”.
This
famous quote water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink is originated from
the “Rhyme of The Ancient Mariner”.
In
our life there are many things that are plenty like sea water but something
with substance and great value like unconditional love is in scarcity.
Sometime
we tend to forget the love abstract in nature.
This is a quality I would like to see in our near and dear.
An
Albatross that flies high developing its strongest and widest wings is an
allegory for me for its sustenance in the orbit for extended long hours like a
hardworking species.
Long
live Albatross..!!
Let
the Lyrical romantic poem like, “Hymn before Sunrise “the Lyrical Ballad
conquer centuries.
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