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Question
Answer the following question briefly.
What was the terrible deed done by the Mariner? Why do you think he did it ?
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Solution
The terrible deed done by the mariner was that he shot the albatross with his cross bow. He did it to get rid of the troubles being faced, but soon he realised his mistake to find more troubles after the death of albatross.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
Why did the wedding guest beat his breast ?
How were the mariners saved from 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 |
Answer the following by choosing the right option from those given below:
'The sun came up upon the left, /Out of the sea came he;'This line tells us that the ship………………….
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 sailors felt depressed on reaching the land of mist and snow 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.
How does the mariner describe the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land?
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 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'?
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:
What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their suffering?
Answer the following question briefly:
Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza.
Answer the following question briefly:
Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner?
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.
