The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

SUMMARY

In the poem's first line, we meet its protagonist,(main character) "an ancient Mariner." He stops one of three people on their way to a wedding celebration. The leader of the group, the Wedding Guest, tries to resist being stopped by the strange old man with the "long grey beard and glittering eye." He explains that he is on his way to enjoy the wedding merriment; he is the closest living relative to the groom, and the festivities have already begun. Still, the Ancient Mariner takes his hand and begins his story. The Wedding Guest has no choice but to sit down on a rock to listen.

The Ancient Mariner explains that one clear and bright day, he set out sail on a ship full of happy seamen. They sailed along smoothly until they reached the equator. Suddenly, the sounds of the wedding interrupt the Ancient Mariner's story. The Wedding Guest beats his chest impatiently as the blushing bride enters the reception hall and music plays. However, he is compelled to continue listening to the Ancient Mariner, who goes on with his tale. As soon as the ship reached the equator, a terrible storm hit and forced the ship southwards. The wind blew with such force that the ship pitched down in the surf as though it were fleeing an enemy. Then the sailors reached a calm patch of sea that was "wondrous cold", full of snow and glistening green icebergs as tall as the ship's mast. The sailors were the only living things in this frightening, enclosed world where the ice made terrible groaning sounds that echoed all around. Finally, an Albatross emerged from the mist, and the sailors revered it as a sign of good luck, as though it were a "Christian soul" sent by God to save them. No sooner than the sailors fed the Albatross did the ice break apart, allowing the captain to steer out of the freezing world. The wind picked up again, and continued for nine days. All the while, the Albatross followed the ship, ate the food the sailors gave it, and played with them. At this point, the Wedding Guest notices that the Ancient Mariner looks at once grave and crazed. He exclaims: "God save thee, ancient Mariner! / From the fiends that plague thee thus!- / Why lookst thou so?" The Ancient Mariner responds that he shot the Albatross with his crossbow.

Part-2

The ship sailed northward into the Pacific Ocean, and although the sun shone during the day and the wind remained strong, the mist held fast. The other sailors were angry with the Ancient Mariner for killing the Albatross, which they believed had saved them from the icy world by summoning the wind: "Ah wretch! Said they, the bird to slay / That made the breeze to blow!" Then the mist disappeared and the sun shone particularly brightly, "like God's own head." The sailors suddenly changed their opinion. They decided that the Albatross must have brought the mist, and praised the Ancient Mariner for having killed it and rid them of the mist: "Twas right, said they, such birds to slay, / That bring the fog and mist."

The ship sailed along merrily until it entered an uncharted part of the ocean, and the wind disappeared. The ship could not move, and sat "As idle as a painted ship / Upon a painted ocean." Then the sun became unbearably hot just as the sailors ran out of water, leading up to the most famous lines in the poem: "Water, water, every where, / And all the boards did shrink; / Water, water, every where, / Nor any drop to drink." The ocean became a horrifying place; the water churned with "slimy" creatures, and at night, eerie fires seemed to burn on the ocean's surface. Some of the sailors dreamed that an evil spirit had followed them from the icy world, and they all suffered from a thirst so terrible that they could not speak. To brand the Ancient Mariner for his crime and place the guilt on him and him alone, the sailors hung the Albatross's dead carcass around his neck.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Questions and Answer - part -I

Answer the following questions briefly

Question: 1 - How did the ancient mariner stop the wedding guest?

Answer: The ancient mariner used the hypnotic effect of his gleaming eyes to stop the wedding guest.

Question: 2 - Was the wedding guest happy to be stopped? Give reasons for your answer.

Answer: The wedding guest was not happy to be stopped. He has come to attend the wedding ceremony where his presence is necessary as he is closely related to the bridegroom.

Question: 3 - Describe the ancient mariner.

Answer: The Ancient Mariner is an old man. He is quite thin and frail. He has a long grey beard and there is a magnetic effect in the glitter in his eyes.

Question: 4 - How does the mariner describe the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land?

Answer: The mariner describes that the ship was waved off on harbor among loud cheers.. All the sailors were in high spirits. The ship left the harbor leaving behind the church, the hill and the lighthouse.

Question: 5 - What kind of weather did the sailors enjoy at the beginning of their journey? How has it been expressed in the poem?

Answer: The weather was pleasant and sunny. The sun seemed to rise out of the sea and set into the sea. The sun was bright during the initial phase of the journey.

Question: 6 - How did the sailors reach the land of mist and snow?

Answer: The fierce storm forced the ship to drift towards the south and reach the land of mist and snow.

Question: 7 - How does the mariner express the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs?

Answer: The mariner describes how emerald coloured blocks of ice as high as the mast of the ship floated around the ship blocking all view.The repetition of ‘ the ice was here, the ice was there, the ice was all around’ makes the description very vivid.

Question: 8 - 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 way albatross came to eat the food offered by thesailors and played with them shows that it was not afraid of the humans. The sailors hailed it in God’s name asthey were pleased with this diversion that took away their gloom and depression.

Question: 9 - What was the terrible deed done by the Mariner? Why do you think he did it?

Answer The ancient Mariner killed the albatross with his crossbow. It was a thoughtless act, as the mariner had no reason to kill it. Later on he was remorseful about his action and had to pay a heavy price for his foolish action