Simple Moral in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner a Bit Complex

The moral suggested at the end of the poem seems too simplistic to account for what is clearly a more complex and confused rendering of the theme of sin and redemption placed upon the Mariner's tale. The poem purports to tell a story about how one man's act of "evil" affects him and the people around him. The story is deeply influenced by religious imagery, yet seems muddled. Why did the Mariner kill the albatross in the first place? What drove him to commit such an act? Was it simply because he didn't "loveth well both man and bird and beast" (612)? Is that what we're supposed to take away from the poem? Too much is missing from this explanation.

The Mariner's guilt seems to extend to all mankind, so much so that all his fellow sailors pay the price for it with their lives. Did they too simply not love "All things both great and small" (615)? Something important is missing here. Explanations as to why the Mariner did what he did and why it was the seemingly guiltless compatriots who paid the ultimate price for it are missing and the moral at the end isn't strong or far-reaching enough to give proper account for things. This moral at the end suggests to me a reading of the poem which goes far beyond what Coleridge is telling us to think and feel through the simple narrative. The Mariner represents more than just a man who didn't feel deeply enough about his fellow creatures. His guilt far exceeds those crimes.