In Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," how do certain quotations illustrate the themes of "moral guilt consequences" and "partial restitution"?

In Samuel Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, one theme that repeats is that of "partial restitution."

In this epic poem, the mariner sets sail on a ship that is followed by an albatross (a large sea bird) that follows the men for a number of days. Then, for no reason, the mariner shoots the bird with his crossbow. At first the crew is angry with him, believing that the bird brought good luck. However, when the fog lifts, they agree that the mariner was right to kill the bird.

The Romantic poets venerated nature: especially in the face of the Industrial Revolution that was destroying the land and the air quality.

In this poem, Coleridge uses the mariner and his fellow-sailors as an example of what can happen when nature is not highly regarded and/or protected.

His underlying theme is that all things that inhabit the natural world have an inherent value and beauty, and that it is necessary for humanity to recognize and respect these qualities.

The ship is becalmed—the men run out of water. Then they are visited by a ghost ship with Death, and his mate, Life-in-Death. The two gamble for the lives of the crew members. All are lost to Death except the mariner, who Life-in-Death "wins." The others die where they stand.

The mariner's "partial restitution" is seen as he suffers for his crime, and how he pays for what he has done. First, all aboard the ship suffer:

Day after day, day after day,

We stuck, nor breath nor motion;

As idle as a painted ship

Upon a painted ocean.

Water, water, every where,

And all the boards did shrink;

Water, water, every where,

Nor any drop to drink. (113-119)

Without a wind, the ship is motionless. When water runs out, men being to suffer. They blame the mariner with their looks. Then he is forced to make "partial restitution"...

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks

Had I from old and young!

Instead of the Cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung. (136-139)

The other men's lives are taken by Death. The mariner is saved by Life-in-Death, but he continues to be punished. He must watch every other man and boy on that ship die before him.

Four times fifty living men,

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)

With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,

They dropped down one by one. (213-216)

The mariner experiences both guilt and offers restitution as he watches his shipmates die—while he is spared. The mariner's suffering continues as he faces not only life on a ship with a dead crew, but deep loneliness:

Alone, alone, all, all alone,

Alone on a wide wide sea!

And never a saint took pity on

My soul in agony. (229-232)

The mariner is punished also in that he cannot pray. The words turn to dust in his mouth.

Suddenly, the mariner looks over the side of the ship to see beautiful creatures swimming. Without a thought he blesses them. In that moment, he is able to pray and the dead bird drops from his neck. He is released from his terrible guilt—for the moment. When he is saved from his sinking, he asks a holy man (the Hermit) to forgive his sins.

However, though the priest forgives his sins, and his respect for nature has grown, the mariner is still punished:

Since then, at an uncertain hour,

That agony returns;

And till my ghastly tale is told,

This heart within me burns. (579-582)

So the mariner is forced to tell his story when he meets someone who needs to hear it. Only then does the pain leave—and only for a short while, as he travels the land, finding others who need to learn the lesson he learned.

What quotes from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" support the theme of moral guilt?

This is an interesting theme, because in a sense, the suffering that the Mariner and his crew go through is not a result of the guilt of the Mariner but because of the "Polar Spirit" that the Mariner has angered through his act of killing the albatross. However, it is certain that although the Mariner is able to serve his "penance" for killing the albatross, this is an experience that burdens him for the rest of his life. Note what he says in the final part of the poem and how the Mariner finds himself compelled to re-tell his tale to find some sense of peace:

Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched

With a woeful agony,

Which forced me to begin my tale;

And then it left me free.

Since then, although his experience is over, yet the after-effects linger on, for at unpredictable moments, a feeling of agony grips the ancient Mariner and will not go away until he recounts his experiences:

Since then, at an uncertain hour,

That agony returns:

And till my ghastly tale is told,

This heart within me burns.

Thus if you are going to look at the theme you have stated, I would investigate the impact of this narrative on the Mariner and how he is compelled to re-tell his tale again and again, thus showing the impact of moral guilt because of his actions, even though he had served his "penance."