Learning targets: 1) I can read, annotate, and analyze informational texts on topics related to diverse and non-traditional cultures and viewpoints.
2) I can determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative connotative, and technical meanings; and analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone
3) I can determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to provide a complex analysis and an objective summary of the text.
Coming up: vocabulary quiz, Wednesday, December 6 (another copy below)
In class: Finishing up the visual images of Romanticism; literary elements background information on Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. (class handout / copy below)
Beginning class reading: assigned stanzas. (copy of poem with graphic organizer)
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
In class: reviewing the Romanticism introduction material. Setting the stage for Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Review of the literary elements of character, setting and theme.
In what genre are we working? poetry
Setting:
Character List
Ancient Mariner
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 is abated only temporarily once he finishes telling the tale.
Wedding Guest
One of three people on their way to a wedding reception; he is next of kin to the bridegroom. The Ancient Mariner stops him, and despite his protests compels him to sit and listen to the entirety of his story. He is afraid of the Ancient Mariner and yearns to join the merriment of the wedding celebration, but after he hears the Ancient Mariner's story, he becomes both "sadder and...wiser."
The Sailors
Two hundred seamen who set sail with the Ancient Mariner one clear, sunny day.
Albatross
A great, white sea bird that presumably saves the sailors from the icy world.
Death
Embodied in a hulking form on the ghost ship. He loses at dice to Life-in-Death, who gets to claim the Ancient Mariner's soul; instead, Death wins the two hundred sailors.
The Night-mare Life-in-Death
Embodied in a beautiful, naked, ghostly woman with golden hair and red lips. She wins at dice over Death and gets to claim the Ancient Mariner's soul, condemning him to a limbo-like living death.
Pilot
The captain of the small boat that rows out to the Ancient Mariner's ship. He loses his mind when the Ancient Mariner abruptly comes to life and begins to row his boat.
Pilot's Boy
The assistant to the Pilot; he rows the small boat. He loses his mind when the Ancient Mariner, whom he thinks is dead, abruptly comes to life and takes the oars from him.
Hermit
A recluse who prays three times a day and lives in communion with nature in the woods.
First Voice
One of two voices presumably belonging to a spirit. The Ancient Mariner hears the First Voice after he is knocked unconscious when the ship jolts forward.
Second Voice
The second of two voices presumably belonging to a spirit. The Second Voice is softer than the First Voice-"as soft as honey-dew"-and more knowledgeable. He explains to the First Voice that the Ancient Mariner will pay for his crime much more dearly than he already has.
Major Themes
The Natural World: The Physical
While it can be beautiful and frightening (often simultaneously), the natural world's power in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is unquestionable.
The Spiritual World: The Metaphysical
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" occurs in the natural, physical world-the land and ocean. However, the work has popularly been interpreted as an allegory of man's connection to the spiritual, metaphysical world.
Liminality
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" typifies the Romantic fascination with liminal spaces. A liminal space is defined as a place on the edge of a realm or between two realms, whether a forest and a field, or reason and imagination.
Imprisonment
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is in many ways a portrait of imprisonment and its inherent loneliness and torment.
Retribution
"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is a tale of retribution, since the Ancient Mariner spends most of the poem paying for his one, impulsive error of killing the Albatross.
Name _________________________
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge Part I
We will be reading the poem as a class. If you are absent, you are responsible for the material.
Below is the poem and organizer. As we read through the poem, there are specific vocabulary and figurative language questions for some of the stanzas. In addition, you will need to write down the stanzas that contain evidence that support the following themes. This information will be used to construct an essay. The graphic organizer will be collected for a 4 day participation grade. In order to receive full credit, you must complete the all questions all lined responses and have 25 thematic examples.
Themes:
- The Natural World (It can be beautiful and frightening and powerful) (often simultaneously),
- The Spiritual World: The Metaphysical (The poem occurs in the natural, physical world-the land and ocean. However, the work has popularly been interpreted as an allegory of man's connection to the spiritual, metaphysical world.
- Liminality-"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" typifies the Romantic fascination with liminal spaces. A liminal space is defined as a place on the edge of a realm or between two realms, whether a forest and a field, or reason and imagination.
- Imprisonment-"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is in many ways a portrait of imprisonment and its inherent loneliness and torment.
- Retribution-The poem is a tale of retribution, since the Ancient Mariner spends most of the poem paying for his one, impulsive error of killing the Albatross.
1. It is an ancient Mariner,
And he stoppeth one of three.
`By thy long grey beard and glittering eye,
Now wherefore stopp'st thou me?
2. The bridegroom's doors are opened wide,
And I am next of kin; _____________________
The guests are met, the feast is set:
Mayst hear the merry din.' define din ____________________
3. He holds him with his skinny hand,
"There was a ship," quoth he.
`Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!' define loon ____________________
Eftsoons his hand dropped he.
4. He holds him with his glittering eye -
The Wedding-Guest stood still, write the simile ______________________
And listens like a three years' child:
The Mariner hath his will. _____________________________
5. The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
6. "The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill, define kirk____________________________
Below the lighthouse top.
7. The sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he! What is being personified?____________
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.
8. Higher and higher every day,
Till over the mast at noon -"
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon.
9. The bride hath paced into the hall,
Red as a rose is she;
Nodding their heads before her goes
The merry minstrelsy.
10. The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.
11. "And now the storm-blast came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong: write out the personification______________
He struck with his o'ertaking wings,
And chased us south along. _________________________________
12. With sloping masts and dipping prow, where on a boat do you find the prow?
As who pursued with yell and blow
Still treads the shadow of his foe, __________________________________
And foward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,
And southward aye we fled.
13. And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold:
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.
14. And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken -
The ice was all between.
15. The ice was here, the ice was there, write out the personification _________________
The ice was all around:
It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, _______________________________________
Like noises in a swound!
16. At length did cross an Albatross, How did the sailors feel about the albatross?
Thorough the fog it came;
As it had been a Christian soul, __________________________________________
We hailed it in God's name.
17. It ate the food it ne'er had eat,
And round and round it flew.
The ice did split with a thunder-fit;
The helmsman steered us through!
18. And a good south wind sprung up behind;
The Albatross did follow,
And every day, for food or play,
Came to the mariner's hollo!
19. In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,
It perched for vespers nine; How many days did the bird hang around? ________
Whiles all the night, through fog-smoke white,
Glimmered the white moonshine."
20. `God save thee, ancient Mariner,
From the fiends that plague thee thus! - What did the mariner do to the bird? _________
Why look'st thou so?' -"With my crossbow
I shot the Albatross." _____________________________________
Part II
21. "The sun now rose upon the right:
Out of the sea came he,
Still hid in mist, and on the left
Went down into the sea.
22. And the good south wind still blew behind,
But no sweet bird did follow,
Nor any day for food or play
Came to the mariners' hollo!
23. And I had done a hellish thing,
And it would work 'em woe:
For all averred, I had killed the bird define to avere __________________________
That made the breeze to blow.
Ah wretch! said they, the bird to slay,
That made the breeze to blow!
24. Nor dim nor red, like God's own head,
The glorious sun uprist:
Then all averred, I had killed the bird
That brought the fog and mist.
'Twas right, said they, such birds to slay,
That bring the fog and mist.
25. The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
26. Down dropped the breeze, the sails dropped down,
'Twas sad as sad could be;
And we did speak only to break
The silence of the sea!
27. All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the moon.
28. Day after day, day after day, Write out the simile __________________________
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship _________________________________________
Upon a painted ocean.
29. Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink.
30. The very deep did rot: O Christ! They are in the doldrums, but what else
That ever this should be! surrounds the ship? _________________
Yea, slimy things did crawl with legs
Upon the slimy sea. __________________________________
31. About, about, in reel and rout
The death-fires danced at night;
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue, and white.
32. And some in dreams assured were
Of the Spirit that plagued us so;
Nine fathom deep he had followed us
From the land of mist and snow.
33. And every tongue, through utter drought, Why have the men no voices?
Was withered at the root;
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot. __________________________________
34. Ah! well-a-day! what evil looks What did the men do with the bird?
Had I from old and young!
Instead of the cross, the Albatross __________________________________
About my neck was hung."
Part III
35. "There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parched, and glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary time!
How glazed each weary eye -
When looking westward, I beheld
A something in the sky.
36. At first it seemed a little speck,
And then it seemed a mist;
It moved and moved, and took at last
A certain shape, I wist.
37. A speck, a mist, a shape, I wist!
And still it neared and neared:
As if it dodged a water-sprite,
It plunged and tacked and veered.
38. With throats unslaked, with black lips baked, How does the mariner quench his thirtst?
We could nor laugh nor wail;
Through utter drought all dumb we stood! __________________________________
I bit my arm, I sucked the blood,
And cried, A sail! a sail!
39. With throats unslaked, with black lips baked,
Agape they heard me call:
Gramercy! they for joy did grin,
And all at once their breath drew in,
As they were drinking all.
40. See! see! (I cried) she tacks no more! What is a ship doing when it is tacking?
Hither to work us weal;
Without a breeze, without a tide, __________________________________
She steadies with upright keel!
41. The western wave was all a-flame,
The day was well nigh done!
Almost upon the western wave
Rested the broad bright sun;
When that strange shape drove suddenly
Betwixt us and the sun.
42. And straight the sun was flecked with bars,
(Heaven's Mother send us grace!)
As if through a dungeon-grate he peered
With broad and burning face.
43. Alas! (thought I, and my heart beat loud)
How fast she nears and nears!
Are those her sails that glance in the sun, define gossamer ______________________
Like restless gossameres?
44. Are those her ribs through which the sun
Did peer, as through a grate?
And is that Woman all her crew? How many creatures are on the boat? ________
Is that a Death? and are there two?
Is Death that Woman's mate?
45. Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy, What is another term for Nightmare Life-in-Death?
The Nightmare Life-in-Death was she,
Who thicks man's blood with cold. _______________________________________
46. The naked hulk alongside came,
And the twain were casting dice;
`The game is done! I've won! I've won!'
Quoth she, and whistles thrice.
47. The sun's rim dips; the stars rush out:
At one stride comes the dark;
With far-heard whisper o'er the sea,
Off shot the spectre-bark.
48. We listened and looked sideways up!
Fear at my heart, as at a cup,
My life-blood seemed to sip!
The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;
From the sails the dew did drip -
Till clomb above the eastern bar
The horned moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip.
49. One after one, by the star-dogged moon,
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye.
50. Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan) How many men are on the ship? ____________
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down one by one. What happened to them? ____________________
51. The souls did from their bodies fly, -
They fled to bliss or woe!
And every soul it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow!"
Part IV
52.`I fear thee, ancient Mariner!
I fear thy skinny hand!
And thou art long, and lank, and brown,
As is the ribbed sea-sand.
53. I fear thee and thy glittering eye,
And thy skinny hand, so brown.' -
"Fear not, fear not, thou Wedding-Guest!
This body dropped not down.
54. Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide wide sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.
55. The many men, so beautiful!
And they all dead did lie;
And a thousand thousand slimy things
Lived on; and so did I.
56. I looked upon the rotting sea,
And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,
And there the dead men lay.
57. I looked to heaven, and tried to pray; What does the mariner attempt to do,
But or ever a prayer had gusht, now that he is all alone with the bodies?
A wicked whisper came and made
My heart as dry as dust. ______________________________
58. I closed my lids, and kept them close,
And the balls like pulses beat;
Forthe sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky,
Lay like a load on my weary eye,
And the dead were at my feet.
59. The cold sweat melted from their limbs,
Nor rot nor reek did they:
The look with which they looked on me
Had never passed away.
60. An orphan's curse would drag to hell
A spirit from on high;
But oh! more horrible than that
Is the curse in a dead man's eye!
Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,
And yet I could not die.
61. The moving moon went up the sky,
And no where did abide:
Softly she was going up,
And a star or two beside -
62. Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread;
But where the ship's huge shadow lay,
The charmed water burnt alway
A still and awful red.
63. Beyond the shadow of the ship
I watched the water-snakes:
They moved in tracks of shining white,
And when they reared, the elfish light
Fell off in hoary flakes.
64. Within the shadow of the ship
I watched their rich attire:
Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
They coiled and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire.
65. O happy living things! no tongue How now does the mariner observe the snakes?
Their beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart, _______________________________________
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me, _______________________________________
And I blessed them unaware.
66. The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea."
Part V
67. "Oh sleep! it is a gentle thing,
Beloved from pole to pole! Who is Mary Queen? ____________________
To Mary Queen the praise be given!
She sent the gentle sleep from heaven, ___________________________________
That slid into my soul.
68. The silly buckets on the deck,
That had so long remained,
I dreamt that they were filled with dew;
And when I awoke, it rained.
69. My lips were wet, my throat was cold,
My garments all were dank;
Sure I had drunken in my dreams,
And still my body drank.
70. I moved, and could not feel my limbs:
I was so light -almost
I thought that I had died in sleep,
And was a blessed ghost.
71. And soon I heard a roaring wind:
It did not come anear;
But with its sound it shook the sails, define sere ________________________________
That were so thin and sere.
72. The upper air burst into life!
And a hundred fire-flags sheen,
To and fro they were hurried about!
And to and fro, and in and out, define wan ________________________________
The wan stars danced between.
73. And the coming wind did roar more loud,
And the sails did sigh like sedge; define sedge ________________________________
And the rain poured down from one black cloud;
The moon was at its edge.
74.The thick black cloud was cleft, and still
The moon was at its side: define cleft ________________________________
Like waters shot from some high crag,
The lightning fell with never a jag,
A river steep and wide.
75.The loud wind never reached the ship,
Yet now the ship moved on!
Beneath the lightning and the moon
The dead men gave a groan.
76. They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose,
Nor spake, nor moved their eyes; What has happened to all the dead bodies?
It had been strange, even in a dream,
To have seen those dead men rise. ________________________________________
77. The helmsman steered, the ship moved on;
Yet never a breeze up blew;
The mariners all 'gan work the ropes,
Where they were wont to do;
They raised their limbs like lifeless tools -
We were a ghastly crew.
78. The body of my brother's son
Stood by me, knee to knee:
The body and I pulled at one rope,
But he said nought to me."
79. `I fear thee, ancient Mariner!'
"Be calm, thou Wedding-Guest!
'Twas not those souls that fled in pain,
Which to their corses came again,
But a troop of spirits blest:
80. For when it dawned -they dropped their arms, What did the dead sailors do in the morning?
And clustered round the mast;
Sweet sounds rose slowly through their mouths, ___________________________________
And from their bodies passed.
81. Around, around, flew each sweet sound,
Then darted to the sun;
Slowly the sounds came back again,
Now mixed, now one by one.
82. Sometimes a-dropping from the sky
I heard the skylark sing;
Sometimes all little birds that are,
How they seemed to fill the sea and air
With their sweet jargoning!
83. And now 'twas like all instruments,
Now like a lonely flute;
And now it is an angel's song,
That makes the heavens be mute.
84. It ceased; yet still the sails made on
A pleasant noise till noon,
A noise like of a hidden brook
In the leafy month of June,
That to the sleeping woods all night
Singeth a quiet tune.
85. Till noon we quietly sailed on,
Yet never a breeze did breathe;
Slowly and smoothly went the ship,
Moved onward from beneath.
86. Under the keel nine fathom deep,
From the land of mist and snow, Where is the keel on a boat?
The spirit slid: and it was he
That made the ship to go. ___________________________________
The sails at noon left off their tune,
And the ship stood still also.
87. The sun, right up above the mast,
Had fixed her to the ocean:
But in a minute she 'gan stir,
With a short uneasy motion -
Backwards and forwards half her length
With a short uneasy motion.
88. Then like a pawing horse let go,
She made a sudden bound:
It flung the blood into my head,
And I fell down in a swound.
89. How long in that same fit I lay,
I have not to declare;
But ere my living life returned,
I heard and in my soul discerned
Two voices in the air.
90. `Is it he?' quoth one, `Is this the man?
By him who died on cross,
With his cruel bow he laid full low
The harmless Albatross.
91. The spirit who bideth by himself
In the land of mist and snow,
He loved the bird that loved the man
Who shot him with his bow.'
92. The other was a softer voice, define penance ____________________________
As soft as honey-dew:
Quoth he, `The man hath penance done,
And penance more will do.'
Part VI
93. First Voice
But tell me, tell me! speak again,
Thy soft response renewing -
What makes that ship drive on so fast?
What is the ocean doing?
94. Second Voice
Still as a slave before his lord,
The ocean hath no blast;
His great bright eye most silently
Up to the moon is cast -
95. If he may know which way to go;
For she guides him smooth or grim. Who is “she”? ________________________________
See, brother, see! how graciously
She looketh down on him. ____________________________________________
96. First Voice
But why drives on that ship so fast,
Without or wave or wind?
97. Second Voice
The air is cut away before,
And closes from behind.
Fly, brother, fly! more high, more high!
Or we shall be belated: define abate _______________________________
For slow and slow that ship will go,
When the Mariner's trance is abated.
98. "I woke, and we were sailing on
As in a gentle weather:
'Twas night, calm night, the moon was high;
The dead men stood together.
99. All stood together on the deck,
For a charnel-dungeon fitter:
All fixed on me their stony eyes,
That in the moon did glitter.
100. The pang, the curse, with which they died,
Had never passed away:
I could not draw my eyes from theirs,
Nor turn them up to pray.
101. And now this spell was snapped: once more
I viewed the ocean green,
And looked far forth, yet little saw
Of what had else been seen -
102. Like one that on a lonesome road
Doth walk in fear and dread,
And having once turned round walks on,
And turns no more his head;
Because he knows a frightful fiend
Doth close behind him tread.
103. But soon there breathed a wind on me,
Nor sound nor motion made:
Its path was not upon the sea,
In ripple or in shade.
104. It raised my hair, it fanned my cheek
Like a meadow-gale of spring -
It mingled strangely with my fears,
Yet it felt like a welcoming.
105. Swiftly, swiftly flew the ship,
Yet she sailed softly too:
Sweetly, sweetly blew the breeze -
On me alone it blew.
106. Oh! dream of joy! is this indeed
The lighthouse top I see?
Is this the hill? is this the kirk?
Is this mine own country?
107. We drifted o'er the harbour-bar,
And I with sobs did pray -
O let me be awake, my God!
Or let me sleep alway.
108. The harbour-bay was clear as glass,
So smoothly it was strewn!
And on the bay the moonlight lay,
And the shadow of the moon.
109. The rock shone bright, the kirk no less,
That stands above the rock:
The moonlight steeped in silentness
The steady weathercock.
110. And the bay was white with silent light,
Till rising from the same,
Full many shapes, that shadows were,
In crimson colours came.
111. A little distance from the prow
Those crimson shadows were:
I turned my eyes upon the deck -
Oh, Christ! what saw I there!
112. Each corse lay flat, lifeless and flat,
And, by the holy rood! define seraph ___________________________________
A man all light, a seraph-man,
On every corse there stood.
113. This seraph-band, each waved his hand:
It was a heavenly sight!
They stood as signals to the land,
Each one a lovely light;
114. This seraph-band, each waved his hand,
No voice did they impart -
No voice; but oh! the silence sank
Like music on my heart.
115. But soon I heard the dash of oars,
I heard the Pilot's cheer;
My head was turned perforce away,
And I saw a boat appear.
116. The Pilot and the Pilot's boy,
I heard them coming fast:
Dear Lord in heaven! it was a joy
The dead men could not blast.
117. I saw a third -I heard his voice:
It is the Hermit good!
He singeth loud his godly hymns
That he makes in the wood. define to shrieve______________________________
He'll shrieve my soul, he'll wash away
The Albatross's blood."
Part VII
118. "This Hermit good lives in that wood
Which slopes down to the sea.
How loudly his sweet voice he rears!
He loves to talk with marineers
That come from a far country.
119. He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve - Where does the mariner pray?
He hath a cushion plump:
It is the moss that wholly hides _________________________________________
The rotted old oak-stump.
120. The skiff-boat neared: I heard them talk,
`Why, this is strange, I trow!
Where are those lights so many and fair,
That signal made but now?'
121. `Strange, by my faith!' the Hermit said -
`And they answered not our cheer!
The planks looked warped! and see those sails,
How thin they are and sere!
I never saw aught like to them,
Unless perchance it were
121. Brown skeletons of leaves that lag To what are the sere sails compared?
My forest-brook along;
When the ivy-tod is heavy with snow, __________________________________________
And the owlet whoops to the wolf below,
That eats the she-wolf's young.'
122. `Dear Lord! it hath a fiendish look -
(The Pilot made reply)
I am afeared' -`Push on, push on!'
Said the Hermit cheerily.
123. The boat came closer to the ship,
But I nor spake nor stirred;
The boat came close beneath the ship,
And straight a sound was heard.
124. Under the water it rumbled on, What happened to the ship?
Still louder and more dread:
It reached the ship, it split the bay; ______________________________________________
The ship went down like lead.
125. Stunned by that loud and dreadful sound,
Which sky and ocean smote,
Like one that hath been seven days drowned
My body lay afloat;
But swift as dreams, myself I found
Within the Pilot's boat.
126. Upon the whirl where sank the ship
The boat spun round and round;
And all was still, save that the hill
Was telling of the sound.
127. I moved my lips -the Pilot shrieked
And fell down in a fit;
The holy Hermit raised his eyes,
And prayed where he did sit.
128. I took the oars: the Pilot's boy,
Who now doth crazy go, What is the Pilot boys’s perception of the mariner?
Laughed loud and long, and all the while
His eyes went to and fro. _________________________________________
`Ha! ha!' quoth he, `full plain I see,
The Devil knows how to row.'
129. And now, all in my own country,
I stood on the firm land!
The Hermit stepped forth from the boat,
And scarcely he could stand.
130. O shrieve me, shrieve me, holy man!
The Hermit crossed his brow.
`Say quick,' quoth he `I bid thee say -
What manner of man art thou?'
131. Forthwith this frame of mine was wrenched
With a woeful agony,
Which forced me to begin my tale;
And then it left me free.
132. Since then, at an uncertain hour,
That agony returns;
And till my ghastly tale is told,
This heart within me burns.
133. I pass, like night, from land to land; What is the mariner’s penance?
I have strange power of speech;
That moment that his face I see, _______________________________________
I know the man that must hear me:
To him my tale I teach. ________________________________________
134. What loud uproar bursts from that door!
The wedding-guests are there:
But in the garden-bower the bride
And bride-maids singing are;
And hark the little vesper bell,
Which biddeth me to prayer!
135. O Wedding-Guest! this soul hath been
Alone on a wide wide sea:
So lonely 'twas, that God himself
Scarce seemed there to be.
136. O sweeter than the marriage-feast,
'Tis sweeter far to me,
To walk together to the kirk
With a goodly company! -
137. To walk together to the kirk,
And all together pray,
While each to his great Father bends,
Old men, and babes, and loving friends,
And youths and maidens gay!
138. Farewell, farewell! but this I tell According to the mariner, how does one
To thee, thou Wedding-Guest! demonstrate a love for god?
He prayeth well, who loveth well
Both man and bird and beast. ____________________________________________
139. He prayeth best, who loveth best
All things both great and small;
For the dear God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all."
140. The Mariner, whose eye is bright,
Whose beard with age is hoar, define hoar _______________________________
Is gone; and now the Wedding-Guest
Turned from the bridegroom's door.
141. He went like one that hath been stunned,
And is of sense forlorn:
A sadder and a wiser man
He rose the morrow morn.
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“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Vocabulary quiz, Wednesday, December 6
1.kin (noun)- one's family and relations.
2. kirk (noun)- church (most often used in Scotland)
3. tyrannous (adjective)- unjustly severe (think of a tyrant)
4. prow (noun)- the portion of a ship's bow above water.
5.shroud (noun)- a length of cloth in which a dead person is wrapped for burial; a thing that envelops
6. to aver (verb)- state or assert to be the case.
7 7. furrow (noun)- long narrow trench made in the ground by a plow or a rut or groove; note that you may have a furrow (noun) on your brow and you may furrow (verb) your brow
8 8. agape (adjective) - agog, wide open, especially with surprise or wonder; gobsmacked
9. gossamers (noun)- a fine, filmy substance consisting of cobwebs; used to refer to something very light, delicate. (think fairy wings)
1 10. spectre-bark (noun) - ghost ship
11. vespers (noun)- the sixth of the canonical hours (times one was required to pray)
12. skiff (noun)- a flat bottomed boat.
