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Question
1. What can you see in the picture? Does the man look happy? Give reasons for your answer.
2. Why does he have the bird hanging around his neck?
3. Have you heard of the expression-'having an albatross around your neck'? What do you
think it means? Does it mean:
a. something that you can always be proud of
b. something that you have to do because you have no choice
c. something that is with you all the time as a reminder that you have done something wrong?
4. What is an albatross?
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Solution
(a) I can see a man with a dead albatross hanging around his neck. The man seemed deeply distressed and repentant over his deed.
(b) The bird is a reminder of his evil action and symbolises a punishment for the sin he had committed.
c. something that is with you all the time as a reminder that you have done something wrong?
(d) An albatross is a white ocean bird with very large wings. It symbolises a thing that causes anxiety concern.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
What was the crime committed by the mariner?
Why does the ancient Mariner compel the wedding guest to listen to his story?
Why did the wedding guest beat his breast ?
Respect for all forms of life is an essential value. Unmindful destruction of nature and its creatures deserves just punishment. Write in 80−100 words this essential value as brought out in the poem, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.
How did the mariners reach the land of ice and snow ?
Here are some of the archaic words used in the poem; can you match them with the words used in modern English language that mean the same? The first one has been done for you as an example:
| stoppeth | why |
| thy | entered |
| wherefore | stopped |
| stopp'st | you |
| thou | lunatic |
| may'st | at once |
| quoth | fainting fit |
| loon | has |
| eftsoons | can't you |
| dropt | stopping |
| hath | church |
| spake | enemy |
| kirk | yes |
| paced | see |
| foe | call |
| aye | trouble |
| en | looking |
| swound | your |
| hollo | said |
| plague | dropped |
| look'st | spoke |
Answer the following by choosing the right option from those given below:
The wedding guest remarked that he was 'next of kin' It meant that ……..
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
The sailors felt depressed on reaching the land of mist and snow because……
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
'It perched for vespers nine' means………
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
'God save thee, ancient Mariner, /From the fiends that plague thee thus!- Why look'st thou so?' means……….
Answer the following question briefly.
Was the wedding guest happy to be stopped? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer the following question briefly.
What kind of weather did the sailors enjoy at the beginning of their journey? How has it been depicted in the poem?
Answer the following question briefly:
How did the other mariners behave towards the Ancient Mariner at first? How many times did they change their mind about the Ancient Mariner? What does this tell us about their character?
Answer the following question briefly:
How did the sailing conditions change after the ship had moved out of the land of mist and snow? What or who did the mariners blame for this change?
What is indicated by the line ‘The bloody sun, at noon,/Right up above the mast did stand,/No bigger than the moon’?
Answer the following question briefly:
How does the mariner describe the fact that they were completely motionless in the middle of the sea?
The poem is full of strange, uncanny or supernatural elements. Discuss how these elements appear in the poem. You should consider:
- the strange weather;
- the albatross as a bird of "good omen"
- the spirit from "the land of mist and snow''
- the strange slimy creatures seen in the sea
- the ocean appearing to rot
- the death fires and sea water being referred to as witch's oil
Now write a paragraph about the supernatural elements in the poem and how they add
to the events that take place in the poem.
After you have read the poem, discuss the following questions in your groups:
i. Why did the Ancient Mariner stop the particular wedding guest to listen to his tale?
ii. Why did he have to tell his tale to someone?
iii. What is the poet trying to convey through this poem?
What were the blessings the albatross brought with itself in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ?
