Answer the following questions briefly
(a) How did the ancient mariner stop the wedding guest?
(b) Was the wedding guest happy to be stopped? Give reasons for your answer.
(c) Describe the ancient mariner.
(d) How does the mariner describe the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land?
(e) What kind of weather did the sailors enjoy at the beginning of their journey? How has it been expressed in the poem?
(f) How did the sailors reach the land of mist and snow?
(g) How does the mariner express the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs?
(h) How do we know that the albatross was not afraid of the humans? Why did the sailors hail it in God’s name?
(i)What was the terrible deed done by the Mariner? Why do you think he did it?
(a) The ancient mariner held the wedding guest with his skinny hand, and forced him into listening to him, capturing his attention with his glittering eyes. His gaze was so strong and intense, that even though the wedding guest did not want to listen to the story, he was forced to, much against his will.
(b) The wedding guest was extremely displeased to be stopped. This statement can be justified by taking instances from the poem where he tries to shrug off his hand, in order to proceed towards the wedding ceremony. His impatience is also noticed when he says he is one of the next family members who should be present in the wedding However, the ancient mariner holds him with his “glittering” eyes, forcing him to listen to the story.. The wedding guest started beating his breast as well, in between the narration, hearing the sounds of large instruments being played.
(c) The poem’s protagonist, he is unnaturally old, with skinny, deeply-tanned limbs and a “glittering eye.”He sets sail from his native country with two hundred other men who are all saved from a strange, icy patch of ocean when they are kind to an Albatross that lives there. Impulsively and inexplicably, he shoots the Albatross with his crossbow and is punished for his crime by a spirit who loved the Albatross. He is cursed to be haunted indefinitely by his dead shipmates, and to be compelled to tell the tale of his downfall at random times. Each time he is compelled to share his story with someone, he feels a physical agony that decreases only temporarily once he finishes telling the tale.
(d) The journey away from the land, and into the icy world, is very well portrayed by the mariner. It grew wondrous cold, with the arrival of mist and snow. The clean weather has ice everywhere, making the existence of life a bleak possibility. The masts of the ship were stuck and the ship couldn’t be sailed because of the formation of a thin, clear, bright, shiny layer of ice.
(e) The beginning of the journey witnessed very nice and favourable weather conditions. The sun rose bright and shone bright on the mast a noon.. Things like the church, the hill and the lighthouse top signify life, society and human lives, which becomes a bleak idea soon in the later part of the poem.
(f) The sailors were caught amidst a huge severe storm. This fierce storm chased their ship southwards. The masts started to stoop down and the front of the ship dipped low, indicating the loss of control of the ship, in the hands of the storm.
(g) The words “the ice was here, the ice was there, the ice was all around,” gives us the picture of the ship surrounded, or rather, caught completely by the icebergs.
(h) It can be said for sure that the albatross didn’t fear humans because it followed the mariners day and night and ate and played with them as well. The sailors hailed it in God’s name because it was a messenger from God which lifted the fog and mist.
(i) The terrible deed done by the Mariner was that he shot the albatross. I think he did it because he considered its presence to be a bad omen.