ENGLISH PROJECT WORK

CLASS-X ‘A’

MADE BY :

Kumari Sandhya S. Shreya Rao

PART-I

ABOUT THE POETSAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (KOHL-rihj), English

poet, critic, and philosopher, was born in

Ottery St. Mary, in Devonshire, in 1772. In

1782, at the death of his father, a Church of

England clergyman, he was sent to the

Christ’s Hospital school in London. After eight

years there he went to Jesus College,

Cambridge. Charles Lamb, who wrote an

essay about Coleridge as a boy, said that he

had a tendency to monopolize conversation

and was interested in metaphysical

discussions. His schoolfellows considered

him impractical and eccentric

Samuel Taylor Coleridge was justly

celebrated during his lifetime for his wide

learning and wonderful powers of

conversation, which competed personally

with devastating opium addiction, deep-

seated miseries, and emotional

insecurities. Yet he is also remembered

for his poetic gifts, which enabled him to

explore extraordinary worlds opened up

by creative powers, and his philosophical

inquiries, which attempted to account for

those worlds, those powers, and his own

complex self.

- 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?

An ancient mariner stops one of the three wedding-guest. He has a long grey beard and glittering eyes. The wedding- guest asks him why he has stopped him.

"The Bridegroom's doors are opened

wide,

And I am next of kin;

The guests are met, the feast is set:

May'st hear the merry din."

The bridegroom’s doors are now wide open to welcome guests. The wedding- says that he is bridegroom's close relative. The guests have come. The feast is set. The joyful noise can be heard.

He holds him with his skinny hand,

"There was a ship," quoth he.

"Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!"

Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

The ancient mariner holds the wedding- guest with his skinny hand : he says “ there was a ship’’. The wedding- guest asked him to free his hands. He called him grey bearded mad person. The ancient mariner at once dropped the wedding- guest’s hand

He holds him with his glittering eye-

The Wedding-Guest stood still,

And listens like a three years child:

The Mariner hath his will.

• The ancient Mainer held the wedding- guest with his shining eyes. The wedding- guest stood still. He listened to mariner’s story like three year’s child.

The old sailor’s will prevailed.

The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:

He cannot chuse but hear;

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

The wedding- guest sat on a stone. He

has no choice but to hear the mariner

continued narrating his story.

The ship was cheered, the harbour

cleared,

Merrily did we drop

Below the kirk, below the hill,

Below the light-house top.

• The ship was given a warm send- off from the garbour. The mariners went happily by the side of church, the hill and the lighthouse.

The Sun came up upon the left,

Out of the sea came he!

And he shone bright, and on the right

Went down into the sea.

The sun came up from the left side, out of the sea. It shone up brightly in the sky. It set into the sea on the right in the evening.

Higher and higher every day,

Till over the mast at noon-

The Wedding-Guest here beat his

breast,

For he heard the loud bassoon.

The sun went higher and higher till it stood on the head at noon. The wedding-guest beat his breast because he heard the bassoon being played.

The bride hath paced into the hall,

Red as a rose is she;

Nodding their heads before her goes

The merry minstrelsy.

The bride had come into the hall. She was as red as the rose. The singers and musicians went before her nodding their heads.

The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,

Yet he cannot chuse but hear;

And thus spake on that ancient man,

The bright-eyed Mariner.

And now the STORM-BLAST came,

and he

Was tyrannous and strong:

He struck with his o'ertaking wings,

And chased south along.

• Then there came the violent storm. It was very strong and cruel. It stuck the ship like it had wings and has overtaken it with force.it chased the ship towards the south.

With sloping masts and dipping prow,

As who pursued with yell and blow

Still treads the shadow of his foe

And forward bends his head, And

forward

bends his head, The ship drove fast,

loud roared the blast,And southward

aye we fled.

• The ships' masts sloped and its front part dipped into the sea. It went like ship which is chased by any enemy with noise. It had bent its head. The ship drove fast and the storm roared fearfully. The ship was driven to the south.

And now there came both mist and

snow,

And it grew wondrous cold:

And ice, mast-high, came floating by,

As green as emerald.

• There came both mist and snow. It grew intensely cold. Ice as high as the mast came floating near. It looked as emerald.

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.

• The moving of the ice- berg and its snowy steep sides gave out a sad brightness . They didn’t see any men or beasts. The ice was everywhere and all round.

The ice was here, the ice was there,

The ice was all around:

It cracked and growled, and roared and

howled,

Like noises in a swound!

The ice was everywhere and all round. It carcked, growled, howled and roared like noises in a fainting fit.

At length did cross an Albatross,

Thorough the fog it came;

As if it had been a Christian soul,

We hailed it in God's name.

At last an albatross came to the ship through the fog. The mariners welcomed it in god’s name as if it has been a Christian soul.

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!

The albatross ate the food which it had never eaten. It flew round and round the ship. The ice split with a great sound. The helmsman drove the ship through.

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!

There started a good south wind. The albatross followed the ship. It came to the ship every day either for food or for playing.

In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud,

It perched for vespers nine;

Whiles all the night, through fog-

smoke white,

Glimmered the white Moon-shine.'

The albatross sat on mast or sail in misty or cloudy weather. It came at 9pm and sat on the perch. The white moonlight shone through for-smoke all the night.

'God save thee, ancient Mariner!

From the fiends, that plague thee

thus!—

Why look'st thou so?'—With my cross-

bow

I shot the ALBATROSS.

The wedding- guest was frightened. He called the god to save the ancient mariner from the devils which were troubling him. He asked him why he looked so. The mariner replied that he had shot the albatross with his crossbow.

Poetic Devices used in the 1st

part Anaphora: The term anaphora refers to

a type of parallelism created when successive phrases or lines begin with the same words. The repetition can be as simple as a single word or as long as an entire phrase. For example in part 1, line 27&28

Below the Kirk ,below the Hill,

Below the Light 'house top. Here, “below” is used as anaphora to

create a litany and rhyme.

Assonance: It is the effect created when there is a repetition of a vowel sound in stressed syllables with different consonant sounds. Assonance can be understood to be a kind of alliteration. What sets it apart from alliterations is that it is the repetition of only vowel sounds. This effect is used widely throughout the ballad to establish its rhythm. For example in part 1, line 21-22 :

The Ship was cheer’d ,the Harbour clear’d--

Merrily did we drop

Assonance appears in the long ‘e’ sound in cheer ‘d’ and clear ‘d’.

Consonance: Consonance refers to repetition of sounds in quick succession produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase. The repetitive sound is often found at the end of a word . Consonance is the opposite of assonance. For example in part 1, line 27-28:

And he shone bright, and on the right Went down into the Sea.

The words ‘bright’ and ‘right’ have the same last consonants, creating the effect of consonance.

Elision: Elision refers to the leaving

out of an unstressed syllable or vowel,

usually in order to keep a regular

meter in a line of poetry. It is the

deliberate omission of a sound

between two words. In Rime of the

Ancient Mariner, elision is used

repeatedly :

It cracke’d and growled, and Roare’d

and howle’d,

Like noises in a swound! (line 61-62)

It ate the food it ne’er had eat,

And round and round it flew. (67-68)

The highlighted words are examples of

elision.

Imagery: In poetry, one of the strongest devices is imagery when the poet uses words and phrases to create ‘mental images’ for the reader. Imagery helps the reader to visualize and hence more realistically experience the author’s writings. The usage of descriptive words and similes, amongst other literary forms, in order to awaken the readers, sensory perceptions is referred to as imagery. Imagery is not limited to only visual sensations, but also refers to sensations of taste, smell, touch and hearing as well. For example

The ice was here, the ice was there

The ice was all around:

The ice was here , the ice was there,

Like noises in a swound !( 59-62)

These lines appeal specifically to the sense of sight and hearing when the ice is described as cracking, growling, roaring and howling noises.

Onomatopoeia :

The term refers to words whose very sound is very close to the sound they are meant to depict. In other words, it refers to sound words whose pronunciation to the actual sound or noise they represent. For example

It cracke’d and growle’d , and roared and howle’d (line 61)

The words in bold are onomatopoeia i.e. when pronounced they portray the sounds of actions they represent.

Oxymoron: It allows the author to use contradictory, contrasting concepts placed together in a manner that actually ends up making sense in a strange, and slightly complex manner. An oxymoron is an interesting literary device because it helps to perceive a deeper level of truth and explore different layers of semantics while writing. For example:

And now there came both mist and snow, And it grew wondrous cold: (51)

The phrase wondrous cold is an oxymoron

And through the drifts the snowy clifts

Did send a dismal sheen: (55-56)

‘dismal sheen’ is the oxymoron used in these lines.

Personification : personification refers to

the practice of attaching human traits

and characteristics with inanimate

objects, phenomena and animals .

The sun came up upon the left,

Out of the sea came he!

And he shone bright, and on the right

Went down into the sea.

In these lines the sun personifies human

being.