Respect for all forms of life is an essential value. Unmindful destruction of nature and its creatures deserves just punishment. Write in 80 to 100 words this essential value as brought out in the poem, 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner'.
Religions function on the basis of a man committing a crime or sin, repenting for it and then gaining subsequent pardon from a higher spiritual authority in lieu of his repentance. However, in the poem, there is no such eventual pardon in sight as the mariner is doomed to recount the story of his wrong deed for eternity to come. The poem explores the horror emanating from the unmindful destruction of nature and its creatures. It teaches us to respect all forms of life otherwise no matter how much one repents; pardon cannot be expected as no higher spiritual authority will ever condone a wanton act of cruelty.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing from the given alternatives.
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
(a) The person described here is …………..
(i) P B Shelley (ii) Ozymandias (iii) the sculptor (iv) none of the above
(b) The face expresses ………………
(i) calmness (ii) anger (iii) indifference (iv) love
(c) The word, ‘visage’ in the above lines means ……………..
(i) vision (ii) legs (iii) lips (iv) face
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
(a) The poet was informed about the broken statue by.....................
(i) Ozymandias (ii) some travellers (iii) the sculptor (iv) a traveller
(b) The legs of stone belonged to....................
(i) Ozymandias (ii) the traveller (iii) the statue (iv) the poet
(c) The word, 'trunk' in this context means....................
(i) upper part of a body (ii) part of a tree (iii) legs of the statue (iv) none of the above
What is the setting of the poem, ‘Ozymandias’ ?
Read the extract given below and answer briefly the questions that follow:
.................. its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed.
(a) What do 'lifeless things' refer to?
(b) How do we know that he was a good sculptor?
(c) How did the heart feed the passions?
