The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

Reading Guide
Part the First

1. The mariner is an old man with a long beard and twinkling eyes.

2. Whom does the Mariner stop to listen to his tale?- he stops one of the guests at the wedding

3. Why is the Wedding Guest anxious to get away from the Mariner? (stanzas 1 & 2)- He

appears to be crazy

4. How does the Mariner hold the wedding Guest in stanza three?- in what appears to be a

hypnotic trance

In stanza four?- in a bright manner

5. What is the Wedding Guest’s reaction to the Mariner and the Mariner’s story?- he is

captivated

6. Which direction was the Mariner’s ship sailing as the tale begins?- south

7. What happened to the ship as it sailed? (stanza 11)- The ship is surrounded by mist and snow

and emerald colored icebergs.

8. Into what areas was the ship driven? (stanza 13)- an area where ice is the only thing you can

see

9. What examples of onomatopoeia does the poet use in stanza 15?- cracked and growled

10. What is an Albatross?- a bird

11. What was the crew’s reaction to the coming of the Albatross?- they were happy because it is

a sign of good luck

12. What happened to the ship in stanza 17 after the coming of the Albatross?- a wind starts and

gets into the sails

13. What did the Mariner do the Albatross? Do you know why?- he shot the bird. He shot the

bird because I guess he doesn’t like it

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Reading Guide
Part the Second

1. In what direction was the ship sailing as Part the Second begins?- north

2. What was the crew’s first reaction to the Mariner’s act? (stanza 3) Why?- they were

convinced that the mariner had brought bad luck upon them

3. What caused the crew’s feelings to change? (stanza 4) .- when he killed the bird, the fog

cleared up and they decided that it was because he killed the bird.

4. What examples of alliteration do you find in the sixth stanza?- Down dropped the breeze, the

sails dropped down

5. What happened to the ship as it “burst / Into that silent sea”?- the breeze stops

6. What simile does the poet use in stanza 9 to describe the ship’s situation?- as idle as a painted

ship

7. Which lines describe the sea and the sea animals as the Mariner saw them?- lines 41-44

8. Of what did the crew dream?- they dreamt of the spirit of the albatross plaguing them

9. What was the condition of the crew?- the crew is severely dehydrated

10. Why was the Albatross hung around the Marnier’s neck?- to alleviate the bad luck that was

brought upon them.

Part the Third

1. What did the Mariner see approaching from the west?- The sail of a ship

2. How did he tell the crew?- he bit his arm to suck the blood to hydrate himself to tell them

3. What is strange about the approach of the ship?- it did not have a sail

4. What did the crew notice as the ship came between them and the sun?- it steers itself

5. Who were the two aboard the ghost ship?- two women, death and her mate

6. Describe the woman, Life-in-Death win?- red lips, free looks, yellow hair, and white skin.
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Reading Guide
7. What were the two members of the ghost ship’s crew doing?- playing a game

8. What does Life-in-Death win?- the mariner

9. What does Death win?- the rest of the crew

10. What is the example of simile in stanza 14?- Fear at my heart, as at a cup

11. What happened to the Mariner’s crew?- they died

12. What did each crew member do as he dropped?- they cursed the mariner with their eyes

13. What happened to the souls of the dead men?- they fled to blissful woe

Part the Fourth

1. What does the Wedding Guest fear about the Mariner? (stanza1)- he fears that the mariner is

a ghost

2. What does the Wedding Guest think the Mariner is?- a ghost

3. Which lines tell how the Mariner reassures the Wedding Guest?- 5-8

4. What does stanza 3 tell you about how the Mariner felt about the sea?- the sea makes him

feel agony

5. How did the Mariner feel about the things of the sea?- that they are disgusting and that the

sea is rotting

6. What did the Mariner try to do? Why couldn’t he?- he tried to pray but he couldn’t because

he had been cursed

7. Look at stanza 7. Write two examples of similes.- Till the balls like pulses beat; lay like a

load on my weary eye.

8. What was it about the dead men that let him know that the curse still lived?- they don’t smell

and appear to still be giving him the evil eye

9. What is more horrible than an orphan’s curse?- the dead man’s eye
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Reading Guide
10. Beyond the shadow of the ship he watched the water snakes.

11. How does the Mariner describe the water snakes?- as beautiful

12. As he looked upon them, what did he do without being aware of it?- pray

13. What two things happened as he blessed the water snakes?- he is able to pray again and the

albatross fell off of his neck

Part the Fifth

1. What did Holy Mary send from Heaven?- peaceful sleep

2. What did he dream?- he dreamt of rain

3. What did the Mariner think had happened to him while he was asleep?- that he died

4. Describe the storm (stanzas 6-8)- powerful and scary

5. The wind didn’t come near the ship, but what happened to it?- the ship moved

6. What did the dead men do?- the gave a groan

7. Who worked beside the Mariner?- his nephew

8. Who occupied the bodies of the men?- blessed spirits

9. What did the men do at dawn?- they sang

10. Look at stanza 17. Write an example of a simile. What is being compared?- Now like a

lonely flute. The sounds of a bird is being compared to an instrument

Write an example of a metaphor. What is the understood comparison?- And now it is an

angel’s song. It is comparing the sounds of a bird and singing to angels.

11. The voices stopped and the “sails made on a pleasant noise until noon”.

12. What was the noise compared with? Is this a metaphor or a simile?- a brook in June. Simile.

13. What caused the ship to move on?- a spirit

14. What two things happened to the Mariner?- he faints and hears two voices
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Reading Guide
15. Suddenly the ship began to move vigorously. Write the simile that Coleridge uses to

describe this.- Then like a pawing horse let go she made a sudden bound

16. At this time, what happened to the Mariner?- he fainted

17. What did the Mariner hear the two demons discussing?- his role in the death of the albatross

18. What prophecy is made concerning the mariner?- that he will suffer more

Part the Sixth

1. When the Mariner awakened, how did his punishment start again?- the dead crew was staring

at him and nothing had changed.

2. What two things was he unable to do?- he is unable to turn away from the and he is unable to

pray.

3. When “this spell was snapt”, how did the mariner feel?- fearful

4. How did the breeze affect the Mariner and where did it blow?- it made him feel delight and

fear. It blew to a lighthouse

5. Why is the 13th stanza an example of alliteration?- the author repeats the use of the letter O.

6. The ship now entered the harbor of his own home.

7. What prayer did the Mariner offer?- he prays that he is awake

8. When the Mariner again looked at the crew, what did he see?- an angel above every dead

body.

9. What were the seraph men doing?- they were lighting the ship so it could be seen

10. Who was in the boat?- a pilot, the pilot’s assistant, and a hermit.

11. Why was the Mariner so glad to see the Hermit? (Write the lines that answer this question.)-

He’ll shrieve my soul, he’ll wash away the albatross’s blood.

Part the Seventh

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Reading Guide
1. Where does the Hermit live?- in the woods

2. With whom does he like to talk?- mariners

3. Which line tells of his habits of prayer?- He kneels at morn, and noon, and eve

4. The Mariner heard the conversation of the Hermit and the Pilot?

a. What was the first strange thing they noticed?- that something was strange about the ship

b. The Hermit noted another strange thing. (stanza 4)- that the ship was dilapidated

c. What comment does the Hermit make about the ship and sails?- that the planks looked

warped and the sails look thin.

d. What does it remind him of?- brown skeletons of leaves that lag

e. How did the Pilot feel about what he saw?- fearful

5. When the boat reached the ship, what happened?- the ship went down

6. What happened to the Mariner?- he was saved

7. In stanza 11, what is the action of:

a. The Pilot- he freaked out

b. The Hermit?- he prayed

c. The Pilot’s boy?- went crazy

d. The Mariner?- he prayed

8. What does the Mariner ask the Hermit to do?- to shrieve him

9. What is the Mariner forced to do?- to tell him his tale

10. What happened when he finished?- he was left free.

11. Stanzas 16 & 17 tell what the Mariner’s life has been like since that day.

a. How does he know when to tell his tale?- his heart burns

b. What brings relief?- telling his story

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Reading Guide
c. How does he know to whom the tale should be told?- when they lock eyes.

12. The tale is told and the Mariner prepares to leave the Wedding Guest.

a. Who prayeth well?- wedding-guest

b. Who prayeth best and why?- God. Because he made and loved them all

c. How did the telling of the tale affect the Wedding Guest?- he was forlorn.

Looking back over the poem:

1. What crime did the Mariner commit?- he killed a bird that brought good fortune.

2. In what ways was the Mariner punished physically?- he was deprived of water, he was made

to carry the albatross around his neck.

3. In what ways was the Mariner punished spiritually?- he was cursed with the dead man’s eye.

4. How did the Mariner finally rid himself of the curse?- he tells his tale

Give the symbolic meaning of the following:

1. Albatross- good fortune

2. Weight of the Albatross around the Mariner’s neck- guilt

3. Thirst- moral depravity

4. Wedding Guest- audience

5. Water- temptation

6. The Mariner- penance