The Rime of the Ancient Mariner {Part IV}

Karishma Mili Dhiman X

Poem

• "I fear thee, ancient mariner! I fear thy skinny hand!And thou art long, and lank, and brown, As is the ribbed sea-sand.

Summary & analysis• The wedding guest is scared

of the ancient mariner because he thinks that he is a ghost by his long, brown skinny hand.

Poem

• 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.

Summary & analysis• The wedding guest says that

he fears the ancient mariner, his eyes and his skinny hand which is so brown. The ancient mariner reassures him that he is no ghost. He was the only one who survived

Poem • Alone, alone, all, all alone,

Alone on a wide wide sea!And never a saint took pity onMy soul in agony.

Summary & analysis• He tells him that he is all

alone in the sea with the ghosts of the dead haunting him. He wishes that the spirits of the saints take pity on him.

Poem • The many men, so

beautiful!And they all dead did lie:And a thousand thousand slimy thingsLived on; and so did I.

Summary & analysis

• He feels bad that all the good and beautiful men have died but still the slimy things and he himself stayed alive.

Poem • I looked upon the rotting

sea,And drew my eyes away;I looked upon the rotting deck,And there the dead men lay.

Summary & analysis• He looked around the sea

but then got upset and drew his eyes away. Then he looked at the deck and saw that the dead men lay there.

Poem • I looked to heaven, and

tried to pray;But or ever a prayer had gushed,A wicked whisper came, and madeMy heart as dry as dust.

Summary & analysis• He looks up to heaven to

pray to save his soul but then he hears an evil laugh like a devil that takes away his enthusiam for prayer and scares him.

Poem • I closed my lids, and kept

them close,Till the balls like pulses beat;For the sky and the sea, and the sea and the skyLay like a load on my weary eye,And the dead were at my feet.

Summary & analysis• He closes his eyes to avoid

looking at the dreadful scene around him. His eyes are hurt by looking at the scene and the dead bodies were at his feet.

Poem • The cold sweat melted from

their limbs,Nor rot nor reek did they:The look with which they looked on meHad never passed away.

Summary & analysis• He sees that the bodies of

the dead sailors did not rot but looked at him with the eyes that still cursed.

Poem • An orphan's curse would

drag to hellA spirit from on high;But oh! more horrible than thatIs the curse in a dead man's eye!Seven days, seven nights, I saw that curse,And yet I could not die.

Summary & analysis• The curse of the dead’s

were worse than that of the orphan’s. but this is a bad indication because the curse of an orphan could drag a spirit down to hell. For one whole week, he had to see that curse but yet could not die.

Poem • The moving moon went up

the sky,And nowhere did abide:Softly she was going up,And a star or two beside –

Summary & analysis• The moon rose in the sky

and did not stand still. She was going up with a star or two next to her.

Poem • Her beams bemocked the

sultry main,Like April hoar-frost spread;But where the ship's huge shadow lay,The charmed water burnt alwayA still and awful red.

Summary & analysis• The moonlight falls on the

ship like frost in April. But the place where the shadow of the ship fall, he could see water burnt in red.

Poem • Beyond the shadow of the

ship,I watched the water snakes:They moved in tracks of shining white,And when they reared, the elfish lightFell off in hoary flakes

Summary & analysis• He still sees the strange

colours like red. The trails left by the sea snakes are mischevious white light.

Poem • Within the shadow of the

shipI watched their rich attire:Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,They coiled and swam; and every trackWas a flash of golden fire.

Summary & analysis• At the shadow of the ship,

he sees different colours of the water snakes : blue, glossy green and velvet black. When they swam, they left trails of golden fire.

Poem • O happy living things! No

tongueTheir 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.

Summary & analysis• He gets excited looking at

them. He praises them of their beauty. Unknowingly he blesses the creatures with all his heart.

Poem • The selfsame moment I

could pray;And from my neck so freeThe albatross fell off, and sankLike lead into the sea.

Summary & analysis• It has taken only the

blessings for the snakes to remove his horrible curse. He has been hanging the albatross around his neck for the whole time and now it fell off his neck and deep into the sea.

The End