Answer
the following questions briefly:
(a)
In which direction did the ship start moving? How can you say?
(b)
Why does the mariner say that 'no sweet bird did follow'?
(c)
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?
(d)
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?
(e)
What is indicated by the line 'The bloody sun, at noon,/Right up
above the mast did stand,/No bigger than the moon'?
(f)
How does the mariner describe the fact that they were completely
motionless in the middle of the sea?
(g)
What is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.
(h)
What is the narrator trying to convey through the description of the
situation in the tenth and eleventh stanza?
(i)
What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their
suffering?
(j)
Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth
stanza.
(k)
Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the
Ancient Mariner?
Answer the following questions briefly:
(a) In which direction did the ship start moving? How can you say?
(b) Why does the mariner say that 'no sweet bird did follow'?
(c) 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?
(d) 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?
(e) What is indicated by the line 'The bloody sun, at noon,/Right up above the mast did stand,/No bigger than the moon'?
(f) How does the mariner describe the fact that they were completely motionless in the middle of the sea?
(g) What is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.
(h) What is the narrator trying to convey through the description of the situation in the tenth and eleventh stanza?
(i) What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their suffering?
(j) Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza.
(k) Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner?
(a)
The ship started moving northwards. This can be said because the line
in the poem says: “the sun now rose upon the right.”
(b)
The mariner says that no sweet bird did follow with reference to the
albatross which followed them a few days back, and now is dead.
(c)The
other mariners rebuked him at first to have killed the albatross.
However, they changed their mind immediately after that to praise the
ancient mariner who killed the bird which brought in fog and mist.
This shows how confused the mariners were, to set up a fixed notion
about the ancient sailor.
(d)
The breeze dropped down, making the sails drop down as well. The ship
came to a standstill. The mariners blamed the ancient mariner for
this change because he had killed the albatross which brought the
breeze.
(e)
This line indicates the excessive heat of the sun, which shone above
the mast at noon. The word ‘bloody’ shows how unwelcome
the sun was.
(f)
The stanza “Day
after day, day after day,/We stuck, nor breath nor motion;/As idle as
a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean,” portrays a still picture
of the sea and the ship.
(g)
The stanza “Water,
water, everywhere,/And all the boards did shrink;/Water, water,
everywhere,/Nor any drop to drink,” explains the irony as to
how the presence of water in abundance is of no use to the sailors.
The water of the ocean is salty, and thus inappropriate for the
sailors to quench their thirst.
(h)
In
this stanzas, the narrator tries to convey the standstill description
of the ocean and the ship. Everything seems to rot because of the
sea. Animals from deep within the ocean seemed to come out of their
places. The
death fires and sea water being referred to as witch's oil.
(i)
The mariners feel the absence of the albatross is the reason for
their suffering. Thus, they blame the ancient mariner for killing the
albatross.
(j)
And
every tongue, through utter drought,
Was
withered at the root;
We
could not speak, no more than if
We
had been choked with soot.
The
condition of the mariners seem to be very pathetic and in a state of
dismay. Their tongues and throats were perched at the root, with
thirst. The sailors’ inability to speak can be well understood
in the phrase: “We could not speak, no more than if/We had been
choked with soot.”
(k)
The mariners hung the albatross around the neck of the Ancient
Mariner as a cursed reminder, so that the thought could plague him
for the rest of his life.
(a) The ship started moving northwards. This can be said because the line in the poem says: “the sun now rose upon the right.”
(b) The mariner says that no sweet bird did follow with reference to the albatross which followed them a few days back, and now is dead.
(c)The other mariners rebuked him at first to have killed the albatross. However, they changed their mind immediately after that to praise the ancient mariner who killed the bird which brought in fog and mist. This shows how confused the mariners were, to set up a fixed notion about the ancient sailor.
(d) The breeze dropped down, making the sails drop down as well. The ship came to a standstill. The mariners blamed the ancient mariner for this change because he had killed the albatross which brought the breeze.
(e) This line indicates the excessive heat of the sun, which shone above the mast at noon. The word ‘bloody’ shows how unwelcome the sun was.
(f) The stanza “Day after day, day after day,/We stuck, nor breath nor motion;/As idle as a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean,” portrays a still picture of the sea and the ship.
(g) The stanza “Water, water, everywhere,/And all the boards did shrink;/Water, water, everywhere,/Nor any drop to drink,” explains the irony as to how the presence of water in abundance is of no use to the sailors. The water of the ocean is salty, and thus inappropriate for the sailors to quench their thirst.
(h) In this stanzas, the narrator tries to convey the standstill description of the ocean and the ship. Everything seems to rot because of the sea. Animals from deep within the ocean seemed to come out of their places. The death fires and sea water being referred to as witch's oil.
(i) The mariners feel the absence of the albatross is the reason for their suffering. Thus, they blame the ancient mariner for killing the albatross.
(j)
And every tongue, through utter drought,
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot.
The condition of the mariners seem to be very pathetic and in a state of dismay. Their tongues and throats were perched at the root, with thirst. The sailors’ inability to speak can be well understood in the phrase: “We could not speak, no more than if/We had been choked with soot.”
(k) The mariners hung the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner as a cursed reminder, so that the thought could plague him for the rest of his life.
