part two notes

8/3/2019 Part Two Notes

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Part Two


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The new day isannounced matter-of-factly in stanza 21- and

again the direction ofthe ship is defined bythe suns progress.

Stanza 22 suggeststhat the crews routineis not much affectedby the birds demise.


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Is there somethingominous in the factthat the birds previous

interrelationship withthe crew is revisited?

Does the seeming

neutrality of these twostanzas highlight theself condemnation of

stanza 23?


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The consequences of the marinersinfamous action are swiftly narratedin stanzas 23-34.


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Note:

The ambiguity of the crew membersresponse to the crime captured instanzas 23 and 24. Does theirvacillation and their readiness to

condemn the bird in stanza 24 alsoimplicate them in the crime- or atleast in the general disrespect of

mankind for his fellow creatures


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The suggestion of the divineawareness of the crime ( and ofdivine judgement to come) in the

simile on line 97

The ominous speed with which theship is driven by both wind and sea

to its destiny in stanza 25. Considerthe contribution of meter andalliteration to the poets

dramatisation of that speed in this


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The onomatopoeia and the heavinessof the sound and rhythm of themonosyllables of stanza 26 which

evoke the mental and physicalfatigue of the becalmed crew


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The intensifying of thecrews predicament by

the heat of the sun,which ironically takesits place above the

mast as the albatrosshad done, its distancefrom the mastsymbolic of the crews

alienation from allother life. Considerthe symbolic

suggestion of the


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The powerfulstatic quality ofthe simile of the

ship as a paintedship/Upon apainted ocean.

Note, too, thepoets use ofrepetition instanza 28 todramatise the


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The repetition which serves an evenmore sinister purpose in stanza 29 asit defines the suffering of the crew

surrounded by water, yet they havenone with which to slake their thirst


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The tactile and tastesenses evoked in the

previous stanza whichare expanded in stanza30 as the stench of therotting deep invades the

crewmans nostrils.Again, monosyllabic useof heavy sounds adds to

the effect of the


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St Elmos fireheightens the

sailors sense ofdread. Even thewater burns. Thedeath-fires mockin ther energeticanimation, thesapped

energyless stateof the ships crew.

The grotesque

gothic image is


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The mariner was damnedby all aboard the ship-damned not by words but

by the looks of t hedumb, who voice theirdetestation of him by

gesture rather than bywords as they hung thedead birds corpse abouthis neck. This parody ofthe crucifix is a power

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