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Question
Answer the following question briefly:
Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza.
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Solution
The sailors were feeling very thirsty as there was no drinking water available. Their throats were dry and they could not speak even a word.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
What was the crime committed by the mariner?
Why were the mariners angry with the Ancient Mariner?
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 |
Using the words given above rewrite PART I of the poem in your own words. The first stanza has been done as an example:
It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
'By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
An old sailor stopped one of the three people passing by, who asked: "Old man, with your long grey beard and glittering eye, why are you stopping me?"
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
The Wedding-Guest beat his breast because…………
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.
How did the ancient mariner stop the wedding guest?
Answer the following question briefly.
Describe the ancient mariner.
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 does the mariner express the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs?
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?
Answer the following question briefly:
What is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.
Answer the following question briefly:
What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their suffering?
Answer the following question briefly:
Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner?
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.
This is a very dramatic poem, excellent for reading aloud or even dramatising. The class should be divided into groups and given the different dramatic moments from the poem to be performed as follows. Some of them are given below:
- the first storm that they encounter
- the time spent in the land of mist and snow
- the coming of the albatross and the subsequent events till they move out
- the killing of the albatross till they reach the silent seas
- the suffering of the sailors in the hot region till they hang the albatross around the Ancient Mariner's neck.
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?
