RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

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

The Rhyme of  theAncient Mariner -II

Q.11) Answer the following questions :
Q.1 - In which direction did the ship start moving? How can you say?
Answer: The ship began to move towards north because the sun now rose’upon the right’ and set on the left.

Question: 2 - Why does the mariner say that ‘no sweet bird did follow’?
Answer: The mariner sounds remorseful as he makes this statement.He means to saythat as he had killed the albatross,it did not follow the ship any longer

.Question: 3 - 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?
Answer: The other mariners changed their opinions as per the changing weather. When the weather was favourable, they hailed the Ancient Mariner for killing the albatross. But when the weather was not favourable, they cursed the Ancient Mariner. This shows that the other mariners were fickle-minded.

.Question: 4 - 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?
Answer: Once the ship came out of the land of mist and snow, it had to withstand a condition of complete lull. The wind was still and the ship could not move an inch. The mariners blamed the killing of the albatross for this change.

Question: 5 - 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 sun was blazing red and scorchingly hot.The sailors think that the hot weather is the result of the ‘sin’ of killing the Albatross

Question: 6 - How does the mariner describe the fact that they were completely motionless in the middle of the sea?
Answer: The ship was so still that it appeared as a painted ship on the painted ocean. This sentence aptly describes the motionless ship in the middle of the sea.
Question: 7 - What is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.
Answer: The biggest irony is that inspite of being in the midst of the ocean of water, the sailors don’t have a single drop to drink. We know that saline water is not fit for human consumption. Hence, if a person is caught in the middle of the sea and he does not have drinking water; only God can save his life.

Question: 8 - What is the narrator trying to convey through the description of the situation in the tenth and eleventh stanza?
Answer: The narrator conveys through this dismal description that the wrongful killing of the Albatross subjected them all to a state of uncertainty where they all helplessly awaited their impending death.

Question: 9 - What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their suffering?
Answer: The mariners felt that the ancient Mariner was responsible for their misfortune and suffering .They felt that the wrongful killing of the Albatross subjected them to such an agony.

Question: 10 - Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza.
Answer: With not a single drop of drinking water to quench their thirst, all the sailors yearned for water. The mariners were unable to speak as their tongues were parched due to acute thirst.

Question: 11 - Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner?
Answer:The mariners hung the Albatross around the neck is used in the proverbial sense as if a heavy burden is thrust upon you. The mariners probably tied the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner to symbolize the burden of guilt because of killing the albatross

Poetic devices

Alliteration

By thy long grey beard and glittering eye (line 3)

He holds him with his skinny hand (line 9)

The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast, 
For he heard the loud bassoon. (lines 31-32)

The merry minstrelsy (line 36)

The furrow followed free (line 104) 

Repetition

The ice was here, the ice was there, 
The ice was all around. (line 59-60)

Personification

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. (lines 25-28) 
Comparison of the sun to a person

Simile

The bride hath paced into the hall,................. 
Red as a rose is she (lines 33-34) 
Comparison of the bride to a rose

The water, like a witch's oils, 
Burnt green, and blue and white. (lines 129-130) 
Comparison of water to witch's oils

Day after day, day after day, 
We stuck, nor breath nor motion; 
As idle as a painted ship 
Upon a painted ocean. (lines 115-118) 
Comparison of the motionless ship and ocean to paintings