Short & Long Questions: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner | Short & Long Answer Questions for Class 10 PDF Download

Short Answer Type
Q1: Why did the mariners hang the albatross around the neck of the Ancient Mariner?
Ans: They hung the albatross out of a sense of revenge. He was held responsible for their plight. They felt that it was his evil deed that brought this curse upon them.

Q2: Why does the Ancient Mariner stop and tell his tale to the wedding guest?
Ans: He wants to relieve himself of his grief. The mariner had committed the evil deed when he shot the albatross with his cross bow. He was cursed, “to share his tale with people”, if he had to seek redemption.

Q3: Why did the Ancient Mariner not let the guest go and attend the wedding?
Ans: He wanted to tell his story to someone. The ancient mariner wanted to share his story with someone. So, he stopped the guest to tell his story and relieve himself of the grief that he was carrying.

Q4: What kind of welcome did the albatross receive? Why?
Ans: The ship had been stuck in the ice for days. There seemed to be no way out of it. The appearance of the albatross through the fog cheered the men. They gave it food to eat and regarded it as a good Christian soul, who had come to help them.

Q5: “The sailors are fickle-minded.” Justify this statement with reference to the poem.
Ans:
First, they blamed him. Then, they praised him. They thought that the killing of the albatross brought them great woe. When the sun rose they felt that he had done the right thing. They did not judge the killing of albatross by any standard of reasoning but by the change in the weather.

Q6: What was the terrible deed done by the old Mariner? Why was it terrible?
Ans: The mariner committed the terrible deed of killing the albatross. It was considered as terrible because the mariners looked upon it as a good Christian soul that was sent to help them. Besides, the albatross was not disturbing the mariners in any way that warranted its killing. It was terrible because the killing of the Albatross brought misfortune to them.

Q7: What crime had the mariner committed and how did it prove hellish?
Ans: The mariner had killed the innocent bird who had brought new hope and the south wind along with it. After the bird was killed, the mariners’ ship was stuck in the middle of the hot and slimy sea. With no water to drink and no ray of hope to brighten them up, they underwent a lot of physical and mental agony.

Q8: How did the sailors punish the ancient mariner?
Ans: The mariner was made to carry the dead albatross around his neck as a punishment for killing the bird. The fickle mariners, swaying in their reactions, faced with a state of absolute doom, avenged their hurt by humiliating the mariner.

Q9: Why did he have to tell his tale to someone?
Ans: It so happened that only the ancient mariner survived the tragedy. He was cursed by the spirits to move around the world and say his story to people. This was the punishment he had to undergo to redeem for his sin.

Q10: What is the poet trying to convey through this poem?
Ans: The poet is advising his readers to ‘look before you leap’. In this poem, the ancient mariner had to go through a lot of pain, humiliation and neglect for his thoughtless act that took a life. He acted in haste and had to repent in leisure. Any action should be a follow-up of a well considered and thought out plan. Weigh the pros and cons of everything and act with maturity Else it would lead to perpetual doom, and a life of guilt and suffering.

Long Answer Type
Q11: “When the albatross arrived on the ship, the mariners experienced a sense of joy and were infused with new hope.” Comment.
Ans: The mariners had been trapped in the midst of iceberg and snow. They lost all hope of escaping from the ocean. They felt relieved when the albatross arrived, bringing with it the south wind. The weather improved, and the mariners felt comfortable and hopeful. They were aware of the blessings the albatross had brought and compared the bird to a holy Christian soul sent by God. The bird ate and played with them. They experienced calm and peace with the arrival of the bird.

Q12: “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” uses the element of supematuralism. Highlight the use of this element.
Ans:

• The very description of the ancient mariner and the look in his eyes, his skinny hands lend the supernatural element to the poem right at the beginning.
• He is able to compel the wedding guest to listen to his story with the fascination of a three-year-old child.
• The emergence of the albatross from the mist, and the sailors revering it as a sign of ‘ good luck, as though it were a “Christian soul” sent by God to save them.
• The mariner is hounded by disaster and supernatural forces after killing the albatross.
• His world becomes nightmarish when contrasted with the realistic world that he has left behind.
• The mariner kills the albatross whose spirit takes its revenge on all the mariners. They face utter drought in spite of water being everywhere. The ship is became – As idle as a painted ship/upon a painted ocean.
• Supernatural beings appear in the poem as symbolic or allegorical figures. They represent the forces of nature, life, death and redistribution.
• The mariner confronts these figures and must ultimately appease them in order to obtain salvation.

Q13: No sinful action can ever go without its consequences. What consequences does the Ancient Mariner have to face as a result of his sinful action?
Ans: After the Mariner killed the Albatross, it was hung around his neck so as to make him understand the seriousness of his act and feel guilty for his actions. But he was incapable of realizing the full implications of his impulsive act at that time. They cursed him, as the bird was of no danger to the Mariner or the men on the ship. On the contrary it served as a spiritual guide to safeguard the crew on their excursion.
The murder was committed on a whim, with no forethought about the act or the repercussions that would follow. The ship was stranded in the deep Pacific ocean, with no breeze to propel it forward. The Mariners began dying for want of food and water. No sinful action can go without consequences, so ancient mariner, the lone survivor had a permanent penance to perform. He had to wander the earth and telling his story and pay the price of his sin for eternity.

Q14: Describe the hardships that the sailors had to undergo when the ship was stuck in the silent sea.
Ans:

• When the ancient mariner killed the albatross, the blowing breeze came to a standstill, the ship stopped moving. The sails sagged down for the lack of wind. There was only sadness and silence all around. The sun continued to shower fires of heat from the sky above. The ship was stuck not in ice now, but in water, it would not move.
• There was water and water around, but inside the ship, due to lack of water, the wooden boards appeared to have shrunk. There was not any drop to drink. There was no breeze, no motion and no sound. The silence of the sea was broken when somebody on the ship spoke. The sun was looking as red and hot as copper. The mariners were unable to speak as the throats were parched. Sea water was looking like witch’s oil.
• It seemed as if everything in the water was rooting. The slimy creatures were seen on the surface of water. The water seemed to change its colour like witch’s oil. There was no peace. The sailors haunted in dreams.

Q15: What is the poet trying to convey through this poem?
Or
What happens when we do things without giving a thought?
Or
How do we pay for our thoughtless or reckless acts?
Ans: Whenever we act or behave thoughtlessly, we are made to suffer the consequences of our reckless actions. It is our own conscience that holds us guilty. Happiness eludes us. Living our life normally becomes difficult. It is said, “A clear conscience is a continual Christmas”. We are repentant but only when it is too late. What has been done cannot be undone. Happiness and joys, so simple are denied to a guilt-ridden heart.