Rime of the Ancient Mariner 'PART THE FIRST'

PART ONE: What signals they are nearing the equator?

Every day the sun seemed to rise "higher," signaling that they were approaching the equator.

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PART ONE: Whats a good way to think of the wedding guest's situation?

Three scruffy-looking bachelors are getting ready to go into this wedding, hoping to party, meet some girls, and generally have a good time. They're laughing and swaggering as they approach the door to the party.

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PART ONE: What is symbolic about the Mariner and W.G away from wedding?

Isolated from wedding- man's isolation from organised religion.

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PART ONE: Why does the W.G beat his chest?

They started playing the music! The bride is led to the dance hall by the entertainers ("merry minstrelsy")! The wine! The women! He's missing out!

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PART ONE: Why does W.G still stay? Give quote:

But, as we said, there's something about that mariner that gives him power over the Wedding Guest. Something about his eyes- 'Yet he cannot chuse but hear; And thus spake on that ancient man, The bright-eyed Mariner.' Part 1, Stanza- 10.

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PART ONE: What does 'Swound' mean?

A trance.

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PART ONE: Whats the point about 'Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken-' Stanza 14:

It is a hostile territory- No men or animals live there, its supernatural, unknown, ominous. There is no living thing, means they not come back alive. PLACE.

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PART ONE: What are the crew feeling in stanza 14?

At this point, everyone on the boat is convinced that they're done for.

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PART ONE: What is repeated about the Mariner's appearance?

'Eye' in stanza one, and four- shows the power his gaze holds 'Eyes windows to the soul...' CHARACTER

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PART ONE: What does the lighthouse represent?

God's guidance. Stanza five. PLACE?

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PART ONE:Whats something to note about the setting of the outer story?

They're in a church- God's in the outer story it foreshadows the destination/story may be something religious.

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PART ONE: Deeper analysis of 'beat his breast' Stanza six.

He is so frustrated because he is so transfixed by the Mariner and can't leave.

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PART ONE: What is repeated in stanza's six and seven to emphasize W.G's impatience?

'Beat his breast'

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PART ONE: Whats something to note about voice in stanza 8?

The speaker becomes the Mariner again without warning from the omniscient narrator. 'Thrown back into the story'.

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PART ONE: What language device is used to make the environment more threatening in stanza 12?

Personification of 'growled', 'howled', 'roared'.

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PART ONE: What's something to note about the Albatross' arrival in stanza 13?

'Thorough the fog it came'- The Albatross is the only thing they can see, its almost like Divine intervention etc. Savior. RELIGION THEME.

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PART ONE: The bird seems like a person, what kind? And what does the bird symbolize in stanza 13?

'a Christian soul' -The albatross seems particularly friendly, almost as if it were a person. And not just a person, but a good "Christian soul." Somehow the bird seems related to God and peace.

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PART ONE: What happens when the Albatross stays with them in stanza 14?

'The ice did split with a thunder-fit' -Soon enough, the ice that had trapped them splits wide enough apart for the ship to sail through. Divine intervention.

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PART ONE: What does 'vespers' mean in stanza 16?

'It perched for vespers nine'- The albatross follows them around for nine nights, or "vespers." It's still pretty foggy outside, and the moon glows through the fog at night.

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PART ONE: What is the destination?

As a lyrical ballad= to evoke an emotional response from reader as well as giving a message- 'He prayeth best who loveth best, all things both great and small.'- Love nature and god will love you etc. To appreciate nature.

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PART ONE: What happens to the Mariner everytime he tells his rime?

He relieves his burden and guilt.

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PART ONE: What caused the Mariner to kill the Albatross?

Human evil, and mischief- However W.G wonders that he might have something devilish inside him: 'From the fiends..'

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PART ONE: What is the W.G doing in stanza 20?

He's reacting to the Mariner's facial expressions- showing how engrossed he is in the story etc. 'God save thee, ancient Mariner!....Why lookst thou so!'

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PART ONE: What is significant about the 'I shot the Albatross' being in direct speech in stanza 20?

It is dramatic as well as adding tension and emphasis.

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PART ONE: What is repeated at the end of each part?

A reference to the Albatross- coming back to his sin. It is the critical event in the poem. Also shows his character can never be rid of his sin. DESTINATION/CHARACTER.

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PART ONE: What is significant about the first 4 stanzas being in 3rd person?

First 4 stanzas in 3rd person- Wedding guest is the audience to Mariner's speech not us. This allows us to be objective when listening to the Mariner's tale as we do not have to learn from it.

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PART ONE: What is significant about 'glittering eye' in stanza 1?

It shows the mariner is charismatic. CHARACTER.

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PART ONE: What is significant about the emphasis of 'ice' in stanza 12?

Ice everywhere- gothic setting. Cold=death etc.

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PART ONE: What is significant about the emphasis on religion throughout poem?

Emphasis on religion- Relationship between man and religion is significant to romantics.

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PART ONE: Give me some definitions of Romanticism?

A movement in literature and the fine arts, beginning in the early 18th century, that stressed personal emotion, free play of the imagination etc.

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Continued defintitions:

it was also a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature. With respect for a new, wilder, untrammeled and "pure" nature.

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Get Revising

Rime of the Ancient Mariner 'PART THE FIRST'

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Other cards in this set

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