From where the "soot" came in the poem?

Question

"We could not speak, no more than if

We had been choked with soot."

Asked by kapil a #219339 on 12/14/2011 8:51 AM

Last updated by jill d #170087 on 12/14/2011 9:05 AM

Answered by jill d #170087 on 12/14/2011 9:05 AM

"Soot," is not to be taken literally, you need to see the "no more than if," which tells you the poet is using descriptive language here.

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner