Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
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?
Advertisements
Solution
At first all the mariners said that the ancient mariner had done a wrong thing by killing the bird. Then, when the weather improved, they all said that he had done the right thing by killing the bird. Finally when the ship stopped moving they said he had committed a crime by killing the bird. They changed their mind three times. This shows that they did not have an opinion of their own or a mind of their own.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
Why were the mariners angry with the Ancient Mariner?
Why does the ancient Mariner compel the wedding guest to listen to his story?
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 ?
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?
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 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 Wedding-Guest beat his breast because…………
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
The two things that happened after the arrival of the albatross were ……
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.
How do we know that the albatross was not afraid of the humans? Why did the sailors hail it in God's name?
Answer the following question briefly:
Why does the mariner say that 'no sweet bird did follow'?
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.
Imagine that the mariner hears of Mrs Packletide’s hunt and decides to share some advice with her about the impact of wilfully killing creatures. As the mariner, write this letter, in about 150 words, to Mrs Packletide, based on the consequences following your own experience of having killed a creature intentionally.
