The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor - CBSE Sample Questions Answers | Class 10 CBSE NCERT Solution and Guide of English Literature Reader

 

The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - by Samuel Taylor Coleridge  
Class 10, NCERT (CBSE) English Literature Guide

CBSE NCERT Solution of extra Sample Hot Questions | 10th CBSE English Guide

Question.1: How was the arrival of the albatross a good omen for the mariners? OR, What were the blessings which the mariners experienced when the albatross arrived on the ship?  

Answer: The arrival of the albatross was a good omen and blessings for the mariners as it brought a bright sunshine and a clear weather as soon as the albatross arrived on the ship the huge ice-bergs that had surrounded the ship started to break and the sailors were able to steer the ship through. The pleasant south-wind also started blowing and the weather improved considerably.  

Question.2: Justify the title of the poem ‘The Rime of Ancient Mariner’. OR, Do you think the title of the poem to be apt? Why / Why not? Justify your answer.   

Answer: The title of the poem ‘The Rime of Ancient Mariner’ is quite apt. It is a narrative poem which tells about the experiences, deeds and misdeeds of an old mariner at sea. The poem brings out the torment and the strong feeling of guilt faced by an ancient mariner. In a moment of cruelty, he killed an innocent bird and then atoning the sin for the rest of his life. In order to overcome his pain and guilt, he often stopped strangers and told them his woeful story of the troubles faced by the crew because of his cruelty.

Hence, the title is justified.  

Question.3: Read the stanza given below and answer the questions:

And I had done a hellish thing,

And it would work’em woe:

For all averred, I had killed the bird

That made the breeze to blow.

(i) Who is ‘I’ in the above lines ?

(ii) What had he done ?

(iii) How did the others react to what he had done ?

(iv) Who is ‘they’ here ?

(v) How did the thing prove hellish later on ?

(vi) Identify the figure of speech in the second line.

(vii) Ah wretch! said they, the bird to stay. How did the sailors change their views soon after ?   

Answer: (i) ‘I’ here refers to the ancient mariner and the narrator of the story.

(ii) He had killed the albatross without any provocation.

(iii) The other sailors reacted very sharply over his hellish act. They considered it a cruel act. They said that the mariner had committed a blunder by killing the bird that made the breeze blow.

(iv) ‘They’ refers to the other sailors in the ship.

(v) Soon after the bird was killed, the ship reached a calm and quiet area where no breeze was blowing and so, the mariners could not continue sailing. Moreover, the sun too started to shine bright. Day after day, they had no water to drink as a result of which, their tongues dried up and they were unable to even speak.

(vi) Alliteration: would, work’em, woe.

(vii) After the bird was killed, the wretch weather began to change and it became nice and sunny. Like the weather, the sailors also changed their decision and thought the mariner had done good by killing the bird that brought the bad weather.       

Question.4: Read the stanza given below and answer the questions:

Ah! well a-day! what evil looks

Had I from old and young!

Instead of the cross, the Albatross

About my neck was hung.

(i) Who is speaker?

(ii) Why did the other sailors give him evil looks ?

(iii) Why was the bird hung around his neck ?

(iv) Explain, ‘Instead of the Cross’.

Answer: (i) The speaker is the ancient mariner.

(ii) The other sailors give him evil looks because they thought it was the ancient mariner who had brought them ill luck by killing the innocent bird that had brought blessings and good luck for them with it.

(iii) The bird was hung around his neck to remind him of his guilt.

(iv) The ancient mariner said that the other sailors did not allow the cross to be hung around his neck which is a constant reminder of the sacrifice made by Jesus. Instead, they hung the albatross around his neck to remind him of his guilt.     

Question.5: What impression do we get about the nature of the ancient mariner from this poem ?  

Answer: The ancient mariner was a tormented person who was deeply troubled and upset because he had been responsible for killing of an innocent albatross. His guilty conscience compelled him to often stop strangers and tell them his woeful story of troubles. His tension and pain in the heart even made him look like a wild and unkempt. The ancient mariner was also to some extent cruel and uncaring as a result of which he killed the bird for no purpose. His emotional attitude, intense feeling and repentance continued to trouble him for his past misdeed.    

Question.6: Why did the mariner kill the innocent albatross ? How did he feel afterwards ?

Answer: The old mariner, in a moment of cruelty and as a casual repulse shot the bird dead. It was definitely an inhuman act and there was no reason for him to kill the albatross. He immediately regretted his act and realized that it was such a sin for which he had to atone for the rest of his life. It was the feeling of his guilty conscience which forced him to often stop the strangers and tell them his woeful story of the troubles faced by the crew because of his cruelty.      

Q.7: Why did the albatross follow the ship ?  

Answer: The albatross followed the ship because the sailors fed it with the eatables they had. Moreover, the sailors treated the albatross as a bird of good omen who guided the ship out of the land os mist and snow. The sailors were very fond of the bird and they used top play with it.

Q.8: What does the repetition of the line ‘Water, water everywhere’ signify ?

Answer: The repetition of the line signifies unusual critical situation of the sailors. The sailors are surrounded by sea water from all sides but they don’t have a drop of water to wet their perched tongues. So, the repetition indicates towards the extent of misery of the sailors.   

Q.9: What impressions do we get about the sailors in the poem, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” ?

Answer: The sailors in the poem ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ are fickle minded. They can not be trusted and are cowards. When the old mariner killed the albatross, they condemned the killing of the bird of good omen as they became afraid that some misery will befall them. But when nothing of the sort happens, they change their minds. They now hold the albatross responsible for the mist and justify its killing. Thus, they also become part of the sin. And when due to the hot and sultry weather the ship got trapped into the sea, they again start blaming the ancient mariner for their miseries. Then they put the dead albatross around the ancient mariner’s neck as a mark of his sin. The old mariner went under trauma after this incident.                     


The Rime of the Ancient MarinerFurther Study           

Class 10 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Ncert (Cbse) solutions for English Literature Reader Exercise Questions

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