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Question
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?
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Solution
The weather was fine Tor the sailors and the sun was also bright. The poet has given its description as such:
The sun came up upon the left.
Out of the Sea came he
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.
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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:
'He cannot choose but hear' means………
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 storm blast had been described as being tyrannous because……….
Answer the following by choosing the right option from given below:
The sailors were happy to see the albatross because……..
Answer the following question briefly.
Describe the ancient mariner.
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 is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.
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.
