The central message of the poem, then, is quite a simple one, but it is dressed up in the memorable guise of a vivid supernatural tale which has helped to ensure its popularity to this day. Its a moral message, warning against thoughtless and foolhardy actions such as the one the Mariner performs in shooting the albatross. The albatross had done the Mariner no harm at all; in fact it seems it had helped to guide his ship, so that his wanton killing of it appears even more inexcusable.