Discuss the supernatural elements in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner."

This literary ballad clearly contains many fantastical
elements that are obviously supernatural. Important to note is the way that Coleridge in
this poem creates a spirit that embodies Nature itself, called the Polar Spirit, that
pursues the ship and rains down suffering and punishment on the vessel because of the
thoughtless act of the Mariner in killing the albatross. However, arguably these
supernatural elements are used as a way of presenting the torments that guilt can
inflict on the human soul and the terrible expiation necessary for those who sin against
nature in such a shocking fashion.

Of course, the pain and
guilt experienced by the Mariner are a product of the pain and guilt of Coleridge
himself, as suffered through his opium addiction, and so we are left to wonder if the
fantastical elements that feature so strongly in this poem are dreamt up out of the
opium-fevered imagination of its author. Either way, the supernatural elements show the
force of The Polar Spirit, representing Nature, and the danger of taking Nature for
granted.