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Question
Answer the following question briefly.
Describe the ancient mariner.
Solution
The ancient mariner is the narrator in the poem. He is an old sailor who has a long grey beard and glittering eyes. He seems to be frighting with unnaturally skinning hands that held the wedding guest. He seems be a sociable guy before undertaking that fateful trip down to the Arctic. His life undergoes a major change as he shoots an albatross. He suffers from guilt and remorse for having killed the albatross. He repents his action and his penance continues through the rest of his life as he feels the urge to share his story with whoever he meets.
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RELATED QUESTIONS
How were the mariners saved from 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 Ancient Mariner stopped one of the three wedding guests because…………
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.
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'?
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?
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.
