Month: November 2016

The Ancient Mariner was cheered by the Hermit’s singing. He admired the way the Hermit lived and prayed alone in the woods, but also “love[d] to talk with mariners.” As they neared the ship, the Pilot and the Hermit wondered where the angels – which they had thought were merely beacon lights – had gone. The Hermit remarked on how strange the ship looked with its misshapen boards and flimsy sails. The Pilot was afraid, but the Hermit encouraged him to steer the boat closer. Just as the boat reached the ship, a terrible noise came from under the water, and the ship sank straightaway. The men saved the Ancient Mariner even though they thought he was dead; after all, he appeared “like one that hath been seven days drowned.” The boat spun in the whirlpool created by the ship’s sinking, and all was quiet save the loud sound echoing off of a hill. The Ancient Mariner moved his lips and began to row the boat, terrifying the other men; the Pilot had a conniption, the Hermit began to pray, and the Pilot’s Boy laughed crazily, thinking the Ancient Mariner was the devil. When they reached the shore, the Ancient Mariner begged the Hermit to absolve him of his sins. The Hermit crossed himself and asked the Ancient Mariner what sort of man he was. The Ancient Mariner was instantly compelled to share his story with the Hermit. His need to share it was so strong that it wracked his body with pain. Once he shared it, however, he felt restored.

Part 6 opens with a dialogue between the two voices: the first voice, the Ancient Mariner says, asked the second voice to remind it what moved the Ancient Mariner’s ship along so fast, and the second voice postulated that the moon must be controlling the ocean. The first voice asked again what could be driving the ship, and the second voice replied that the air was pushing the ship from behind in lieu of wind. After this declaration, the voices disappeared. The Ancient Mariner awoke at night to find the dead sailors clustered against on the deck, again cursing him with their eyes.

After praying, the Ancient Mariner thanked the Virgin Mary for finally allowing him to sleep. He dreamed that the buckets on the ship were filled with dew, and awoke to the sound of the falling rain. He drank and drank after so many days of thirst, as a spring of love gushed from his heart. Suddenly he heard a loud wind far off, and the sky lit up with darting “fire-flags” that could be interpreted as lightning, aurora borealis, or “St. Elmo’s Fire” (electricity visible in the atmosphere that sailors consider a sign of bad luck). Rain hammered down from the grey bleak clouds, with a stream of lighting. He could hear the wind howling in the distance but he did not feel the breeze swaying across his face. The ship suddenly began to sail although there wasn’t my wind.  Just then, all the dead men stood up and went about their jobs as a mute, ghostly crew. Once again the wedding guest proclaims he fears the Ancient Mariner, The mariner quickly assured that he again was the only one that had survived and hadn’t had died.

Dear Mr Waugh

I think that the mariner was going to be saved and the dead albatross that was around his neck had given hime power, strength and luck. However I think that his tough obstacles will remain with hime for a bit longer. He may still be cursed and his solemn sorrows may never end.

The Wedding Guest proclaims that he fears the Ancient Mariner because he is unnaturally skinny, so tanned and wrinkled that he resembles the sand, and possesses a “glittering eye.” The Ancient Mariner assures him that he has not returned from the dead; he is the only sailor who did not die on his ship, but rather drifted in lonely, schorching agony. Being cursed resulted as he couldn’t pray on the ship, however after 7 long days and nights, the mariner noticed beautiful, glistening water snakes which had kept his mood up. Being so delighted to see the snakes, he blessed them. Finally he was able to pray. At this moment, the Albatross fell off his neck and sank heavily into the ocean leaving small bubbles on the sea waters.