Extract Based Questions: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - Class 10 PDF Download

Q1: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The Wedding-Guest he beat his breast,
Yet he cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

(a) Why has the poet repeated the line: ‘he cannot choose but hear’?
Ans: The line is repeated to show the hypnotic power which the Mariner exerts over the Wedding Guest and how he has been forced to hear the story.

(b) How does the Mariner hold the Wedding Guest?
Ans: The Mariner holds him with the hypnotic power of his glittering eye.

(c) What is the Mariner telling the Wedding Guest?
Ans: The Mariner is telling him the story of the fateful voyage when he

Q2: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“With sloping masts and dipping prow,
As who pursued with yell and blow
Still treads the shadow of his foe,
And forward bends his head,
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast,
The southward aye we fled.”

(a) What is the storm described as? What is the ship personified as?
Ans: The storm is described as an enemy who is very powerful. The ship is personified as a man running away from his enemy who is pursuing him.

(b) Explain: ‘Still treads the shadow of his foe.’
Ans: This line means to walk in the shadow of your enemy and not getting away from him. Here it refers to the ship being unable to get out of the storm.

(c) In which direction did the storm push them?
Ans: The storm pushed them towards the South Pole.

Q3: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the lighthouse top.”

(a) Explain: ‘drop’.
Ans: It meahs they set sail with the ebbing tide.

(b) What sights did the sailors see as they started on their journey?
Ans: The; sailors saw the church, the hill and the lighthouse.

(c) In which direction did they set sail? Give a reason for your answer.
Ans: They set sail southwards. The sun rose from the left.

Q4: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“And now there came both mist and snow,
And it grew wondrous cold;
And ice, mast-high, came floating by,
As green as emerald.”

(a) Describe the land of mist and snow.
Ans: The land was covered with mist and snow and was extremely cold. Large icebergs floated past the ship. There were snowy cliffs all around. The sailors could see no sign of men or beasts.

(b) Where were the mariners at this point?
Ans: The mariners were at the South Pole.

Q5: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He holds him with his skinny hand,
“There was a ship,” quoth he.
“Hold off! unhand me, grey-beard loon!”
Eftsoons his hand dropt he.

(a) Who is the ‘he’ in the first line? Whom does he hold?
Ans: The Ancient Mariner is being referred to in the first line. He is holding the wedding guest.

(b) Why does the Ancient Mariner immediately start on the story?
Ans: The Ancient Mariner is guilty of having killed an innocent albatross. He wants to assuage his guilt by confessing the crime to someone. This is a part of his penance.

(c) Explain:‘unhand me’.
Ans: ‘Remove your hand; do riot hold me.’ This is said by the Wedding Guest who is stopped by the Ancient Mariner.

Q6: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“And through the drifts the snowy clifts
Did send a dismal sheen:
Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken—
The ice was all between.”

(a) Explain: ‘the drifts’.
Ans: The ‘drifts’ refer to icebergs.

(b) Explain: ‘dismal sheen’.
Ans: Though the icebergs were as bright as emeralds, they spread sadness in the hearts of the beholders because they had blocked the route of escape.

(c) What did they see amid all this? How did they welcome it?
Ans: They saw an albatross. They welcomed it in God’s name as if it were a Christian soul. They played with it, offered it food and considered it a harbinger of hope.

Q7: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
The Wedding-Guest sat on a stone:
He cannot choose but hear;
And thus spake on that ancient man,
The bright-eyed Mariner.

(a) What does the expression ‘bright-eyed’ signify?
Ans: The expression ‘bright-eyed’ signifies the glittering eye of the Mariner which held the Wedding Guest captive.

(b) What does the expression ‘sat on a stone’ signify?
Ans: I ‘Sat on a stone’ shows that the Wedding Guest was totally mesmerised by the Ancient Mariner and he had no choice but to listen to the Mariner’s story despite the fact that the wedding festivities had begun.

(c) The Wedding Guest is not left with any choice but to listen to the Mariner because:
Ans: the look in the Mariner’s eye held him captive.

Q8: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
“The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.”

(a) Why is the narrator compelled to narrate the story?
Ans: The Ancient Mariner is compelled to confess his sin to assuage his guilt and as a part of his penance.

(b) Who is listening to the story?
Ans: The Wedding Guest is listening to the story.

(c) Why was he prompted to beat his breast?
Ans: The Wedding Guest beat his breast because the wedding festivities had started but he was compelled to listen to the story of the Ancient Mariner.

Q9: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
‘And now the storm-blast came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong:
He struck with his o’ertaking wings,
And chased us south along

(a) Who is ‘he’ in the above lines? How is he described?
Ans: The storm is being referred to as ‘he’ in the above lines. The storm is described as being a large bird that is tyrannical and strong. The wind created by its large wings pushed the ship southwards.

(b) Why has he been called ‘tyrannous’?
Ans: The storm took control over the ship and pushed it in the southward direction.

(c) Point out the figure of speech in ‘o’taking wings’.
Ans: Personification is being used here. The storm has been personified as a powerful bird with large wings which takes total control of the ship.

Q10: Read the extracts given below and answer the questions that follow.
He holds him with his glittering eye—
The Wedding-Guest stood still,
And listens like a three years’ child:
The Mariner hath his will

(a) How does the Ancient Mariner stop the Wedding Guest?
Ans: The Ancient Mariner holds him spellbound with the intensity of his hypnotic eyes.

(b) Why does the Wedding Guest not wish to listen to the Mariner’s story?
Ans: The Wedding Guest is going to a wedding and is getting late. He can hear the sound of the merrymaking and wants to be a part of the wedding festivities.

(c) What is’the significance of ‘listens like a three years’ child’?
Ans: The Wedding Guest listens spellbound to the Mariner’s story. He is powerless to resist him.