NCERT SOLUTIONS FOR CLASS 10 - ENGLISH NOTES - THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS - CBSE

 

THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER

PART –I

MCQ

a) (iii) he wanted to attend the wedding with him.

b) (i) He was a close relation of the bridegroom.

c) (ii) the wedding guest was forced to hear the story of the mariner.

d) (iv) was moving towards the south.

e) (iii) the sound of the bassoon meant that the bride had arrived & the wedding ceremony was about to being and he could not attend it.

f) (ii) it took complete control of the ship.

g) (i) there was no sign of any living creature.

h) (iii) it was a messenger from God and it lifted the fog and mist.

i) (ii) the icebergs split and a strong breeze started blowing.

j) (ii) the albatross would appear at a fixed time every day.

k) (ii) the wedding guest wanted to know why the mariner was looking so tormented.

 

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

a) How did the ancient mariner stop the wedding guest?

Ans: The ancient mariner stopped one of the three wedding guests forcefully. He wanted to tell him the adventurous story related to him.

 

b) Was the wedding guest happy to be stopped? Give he was a close relative of bridge groom and reasons for your answer.

Ans: No, the wedding guest was not happy to be stopped because he was a close relative of the bridegroom and wanted to attend the marriage ceremony in time but he was forced to hear the story of the mariner.

 

c) Describe the ancient mariner.

Ans: The ancient mariner is the narrator in the poem. He is an old sailor who has a long grey beard and glittering eyes. He seems to be freighting with unnaturally skinning hands that held the wedding guest. He seems be a sociable guy before undertaking that fateful trip down to the Arctic. His life undergoes a major change as he shoots an albatross. He suffers from guilt and remorse for having killed the albatross. He repents his action and his penance continues through the rest of his life as he feels the urge to share his story with whoever he meets.

 

d) How does the mariner describe the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land?

Ans: The mariner describes the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land with joy. He exclaims when he starts sailing ‘the ship was cheered, the harbor cleared’.

 

e) What kind of weather did the sailors enjoy at the beginning of their journey? How has it been expressed in the poem?

Ans: The weather was fine for the sailors and the sun was also bright. The poet has given its description as such:

The sun came up upon the left.

Out of the sea came he

And he shoe bright, and on the right

Went down into the sea.

 

f) How did the sailors reach the land of mist and snow?

Ans: The sailors reached the land of mist and snow because of the loud roaring blast that drove the ship faster towards the mist and snow.

 

g) How does the mariner express the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs?

Ans: The mariner expresses the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs by saying:

“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 sound.”

 

h) How do we know that the albatross was not afraid of the humans? Why did the sailors hail it in God’s name?

Ans: We know that the albatross was not afraid of the humans because it started playing with the mariners and ate the food they offered. The sailors hailed it in God’s name because it gave them hope of survival by splitting the icebergs.

 

i) What was the terrible deed done by the Mariner? Why do you think he did it?

Ans: The terrible deed done by the mariner was that he shot the albatross with his cross bow. He did it to get rid of the troubles being faced, but soon he realized his mistake to find more trouble after the death of albatross.

 

PART –II

a) In which direction did the ship start moving? How can you say?

Ans: The ship started moving in the northern direction. We can say this because the poet says the sun rose in the right and he also says the sound wind blew behind the ship.

 

b) Why does the mariner say that ‘no sweet bird did follow’?

Ans: He says so because the mariner had killed the albatross. It no more followed the ship for food or for playing with the mariners.

 

c) How did the other mariners behave towards the Ancient Mariner at first? How many times did they change their mind about the Ancient Mariner? What does this tell us about their character?

Ans: At first all the mariners said that the ancient mariner had done a wrong thing by killing the albatross. Then, when the weather improved, they all said that he had done the right thing by killing the bird. Finally when the ship stopped moving they said he had committed a crime by killing the bird. They changed their mind three times. This shows that they did not have an opinion of their own or a mind of their own.

 

d) How did the sailing conditions change after the ship had moved out of the land of mist and snow? What or who id the mariners blame for this change?

Ans: After the ship left the land of mist and snow, it entered an area where the weather was very hot. Then the ship moved into the sea where the breeze was blowing fine. From here the ship moved into a region where the weather was very hot and it was still all around. There was no breeze at all so the ship could just not move.

 

e) What is indicated by the line ‘the bloody sun, at noon, / Right up above the most did stand, / No bigger that the moon’?

Ans: This line states that the sun was shining very bright and it was right above the ship. It was very hot but the size of the sun was not very big. The poet compares it to the size of the moon.

 

f) How does the mariner describe the fact that they were completely motionless in the middle of the sea?

Ans: The mariner says that there was no air and no movements. He compares their ship to a painted ship which stands still on a painted ocean.

 

g) What is the irony in the ninth stanza? Explain it in your own words.

Ans: The ship is stuck in the middle of the sea with water all around. The weather is extremely hot and mariners need drinking water. In spite of there being water, there was not a drop of drinking water available. That is the irony in this stanza.

 

h) What is the narrator trying to convey through the description of the situation in the tenth and eleventh stanza?

Ans: Through the tenth and eleventh stanza, the poet brings out the condition of the creatures in the sea. There was no breeze blowing, the creatures had started dying. At night it appeared as though death was dancing at the gaze of the ship. The conditions of the sailors were pathetic.

 

i) What or who did the mariners feel was responsible for their suffering?

Ans: The mariners felt that the ancient mariner was responsible for their suffering. He had killed an innocent bird, the albatross, without any provocation.

 

j) Describe the condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza.

Ans: The sailors were feeling very thirsty as there was no drinking water available. Their throats were dry and they could not speak even a word.

 

k) Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the ancient mariner?

Ans: The mariners hung the albatross around the neck of the ancient mariner in order to remind him of the ghastly deed he had committed by killing the innocent bird.