<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article may contain indiscriminate, excessive, or irrelevant examples . Please improve the article by adding more descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples . See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions . (February 2017) </Td> </Tr> <P> The word albatross is sometimes used metaphorically to mean a psychological burden that feels like a curse . </P> <P> It is an allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798). In the poem, an albatross starts to follow a ship--being followed by an albatross was generally considered a sign of good luck . However, the titular mariner shoots the albatross with a crossbow, which is regarded as an act that will curse the ship (which indeed suffers terrible mishaps). Even when they are too thirsty to speak, the ship's crew let the mariner know through their glances that they blame his action for the curse . The albatross is then literally hung around the mariner's neck by the crew to symbolize his guilt in killing the bird . Thus, the albatross can be both an omen of good or bad luck, as well as a metaphor for a burden to be carried as penance . </P> <P> The symbolism used in the Coleridge poem is its highlight . For example: </P>

What is the significance of the mariner shooting the albatross
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