Class 10 NCERT Solutions English Chapter 11 - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner

This answer depends on each student's views.

A few guidelines:

In this picture, one can see a man who looks dejected. The man is on board a ship standing on the deck, and in the background one can see the ropes and ladders of the masts of the ship. There are faint images of people around him which says he is not alone. A large dead bird can be seen hanging from his neck.

His head is lowered and his face is covered with his hand. His body language communicates the idea that he is in grief.

This answer depends on each student's views.

A few guidelines:

The regret evident on his face may be related to the bird hanging around his neck. He may have contributed, in some way, to the death of the bird.

It means:

c. something that is with you all the time as a reminder that you have done something wrong. 

An albatross is a large oceanic bird with a wing span of about 4 meters. These birds are the largest of flying birds and are highly efficient in the air. They are found mainly in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific Ocean.

This is a activity to be carried out in the class.

An old sailor stopped one of the three people passing by, who asked: "Old man, with your long grey beard and glittering eye, why are you stopping me?"

He continued: "The doors for the bridegroom to enter are open wide and I am one of the close family members. The guests have arrived and the feast is ready, Can't you hear the merry sounds."

The sailor held on to him with his skinny hand and said, "There was a ship." The shocked wedding guest exclaimed, "Let go off my hand you lunatic with the grey beard! " This made the sailor drop his hand immediately.

The sailor continued to hold the wedding guests attention with his glittering eye and the wedding guest stood listening to him with rapt attention like a three-year-old child.

The wedding guest sat down on a stone and had no choice but to listen to the sailor. And this is the story that the old sailor with the bright eyes told the wedding guest. He said, "The ship sailed out of the harbour to loud cheers and we happily watched the church, the hill and the top of the lighthouse disappear from sight. The sun rose out of the sea from the left direction, shone brightly and set into the sea from the right side. Each day, it rose higher and higher till it was over the mast of the ship at noon."

At this part of the story, the wedding guest began to get impatient and beat his breast as he could hear the sound of the bassoon. The bride who was as red as a rose had entered the hall. In front of her was a band of musicians and singers.

The wedding guest was getting impatient but found it difficult to break free from the old man who continued to tell his story.

"Now the storm came and it was tyrannous and strong. It struck the ship like a flying creature with its wings, and chased us southwards.

The masts started sloping, and the prow was dipping low due to the storm which yelled and blew while pursuing the ship like a foe.

The storm bent its head forward and kept pace with the ship. To escape the roaring storm, the ship fled southwards.

It finally reached a misty place filled with snow and it became very cold. The ice, which was piled up as high as the mast, came floating by. It glowed with an emerald-green hue and had a dismal sheen. So much was the ice that it became very difficult to perceive the shapes of men and animals.

Ice was everywhere we looked. It made harsh sounds akin to a person in a fainting fit. 

After sometime, we came across an albatross, which flew in through the fog. In God's name we called out to it as if it was a Christian soul. It ate food that it had never eaten before and flew round and round the ship. The ice began to split with a loud noise and the helmsman managed to steer it through the ice.

A good south wind began to blow from behind the ship and the albatross kept on following the ship. Each day, to get its food and to play, it responded to the sailors' call.

Whether there was mist or clouds, it perched itself on the mast or the sail as if it was attending an evening church service. All night through the fog and white smoke, the white moonshine glimmered through."

At this point one of the wedding guests asked the sailor, "God help you old sailor, from the evil spirits that trouble you. Why do you have such a dismal look?"

"With my cross bow I shot the albatross", replied the old sailor.

iii. he wanted him to listen to his story.

i. he was a close relation of the bridegroom.

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

iv. was moving towards the south.

iii. the sound of the bassoon meant that the bride had arrived and the wedding ceremony was about to begin and he could not attend it.

i. it was so fierce that it frightened the sailors. 

iii. they were surrounded by icebergs and there seemed to be no sign of life.

i. it was the first sign of life and therefore gave them hope that they might survive.

ii. the icebergs split and a strong breeze started blowing

ii. the albatross would appear at a fixed time everyday.

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

The ancient mariner stopped the wedding guest by holding him with his skinny arm. So captivated was the guest by the mariner's shiny eyes that he sat on the stone and listened to his story with rapt attention.

There are few instances in the poem where the mariner's annoyance at being abruptly stopped by the ancient mariner becomes evident.

At first, he reacted with displeasure when the old mariner held him with his skinny hand. It is also evident in the way he addressed the mariner, a grey-beard loon. He also commands the mariner to "unhand" him. Despite his protests, the mariner managed to keep him captivated with his shiny eyes.

Later, he tried escape the mariner by saying that the wedding procession had begun, and he being the next of kin, had to be present at the ceremony. He makes his impatience evident by beating his breasts twice.

The mariner was a part of an ancient crew who were lost at sea owing to bad weather. An albatross lead them out of danger only to be shot dead by his crossbow. He was now a pitiful figure with a shriveled body, a long grey beard and a pair of shiny eyes with which he mesmerized people. He stopped people in their paths to narrate his story to them often against their will. He was an eloquent man who undertook many voyages in his life.

The mariner described the movements of the ship in a rather visual manner. He explained that the ship left the harbour amid loud cheers when the weather was favourable. The ship moved towards the horizon sailing past the church, the hill and the lighthouse.

Soon, the fortune of the sailors was reversed when they suddenly faced a harsh storm. They were forced to head southwards in order to escape the violent storm which was in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, they ended up in a place with was rife with snow and saw no means of escape.

The sailors experienced favourable weather at the beginning of their journey. The sun rose above the horizon on the left side of the ship; it shone brightly throughout the day and set on the right side. Each day it travelled higher and higher until it was over the mast at noon.

The poet describes the entire scene in a vivid manner. The good weather along with the cheers of the people gave them a hope for propitious outcome to their journey. 

The weather stayed pleasant for some time, but after a while, the crew came face to face with a storm. It was so severe that the mariner compared it to a huge flying creature that chased the ship southwards with its wings. The mast of the ship sloped and the front of the ship dipped into the sea as the storm continued to torment and chase it. In a bid to escape its ravaging attacks, the ship went southwards into a land of mist and snow.

The mariner said that the ice as as high as the mast of their ship came floating by and that they couldn't discern the shapes of men and beats since there was too much ice in between. And everywhere they looked they saw only mountains of ice. It is expressed in the lines "The ice was all between" and "The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around".

The albatross ate the food that the sailors gave it and kept following them day and night. It flew around the ship and inexplicably caused the ice to crack. At the same time, a strong wind filled the sails and pushed the ship out of the icy maze. This paved way for the vessel to pass out of the nightmarish place. Irrespective of the weather conditions, the albatross kept following the ship and perched on it as if it were attending a church service.

Apart from themselves, the albatross was the only living soul that the sailors saw. It became a symbol of their hope and freedom. It was a messenger who brought along with itself hope and good weather. Therefore, the albatross was like a Christian soul for them and they hailed it in God's name.

The mariner did a terrible deed of shooting the helpful albatross without any reason or provocation. He may have shot the bird perceiving it as a bad omen which may have brought bad luck to the ship.

This answer depends on each student's views and opinion.

A few guidelines:

• Did the weather remain the same after the albatross was shot?

• Was the death of the albatross a good omen or a bad omen?

• What was the effect of the shooting of the bird on the ancient mariner? Was he filled with remorse?

• What effect did it have on the other sailors? Were they angry with the ancient mariner? Did they punish him in any way?

• How did their journey end? Was it eventful?

The ship started moving towards the north. We can conclude this on the basis of the mariner's statement:

"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."

Which means that the sun rose on the left (east) and set on the right (west).

The mariner says that 'no sweet bird did follow' because the friendly albatross which had followed them through their journey and whom the sailors had got accustomed to was shot dead by the mariner's crossbow.

In the beginning the other mariners were infuriated since the ancient mariner killed the noble albatross. They condemned him as they had considered the bird a good omen who made the breeze blow.

However, when the mist lifted and the sun came out, they sang a different tune. They concluded that the mariner was right in shooting the bird since it had brought with itself the mist and fog that made their journey difficult.

Interestingly, when the ship stopped moving and the crew faced a scarcity of water, they went back to blaming the mariner again.

This proves that the sailors were fickle minded and unsure.

As the ship moved northwards away from the land of mist and snow, they temporarily encountered a good weather. Soon, the winds died and the ship came to a standstill. The sun beat down on the ship which parched the sailors' throats. Ironically, even after being surrounded by water, the mariners couldn't quench their thirst. The waters of the ocean thickened and slimy sea creatures walked the deck.

After being faced with such misfortune, they were infuriated with the mariner and blamed him for their fate. They dreamed that a spirit that had followed them nine fathoms deep was avenging the death of the albatross. In order to make the mariner repent, the sailors hung the dead bird on his neck.

This line tells us that the sun was directly over the mast of the ship at noon and was no bigger than the moon. With no clouds, mist or fog to hide it, it was so bright that it looked blood red. The strange blood colour could also signify a bad omen or an impending death.

The mariner described them standing motionless as a picture of a ship painted on a canvas.

The ninth stanza is "Water, water everywhere And all the boards did shrink; Water water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink."

The irony in this stanza is made evident by the fact that despite being surrounded by water, the boards of the ship were dried and the sailors' throats were parched. The sea water being saline is not potable and the sailors may have run out of fresh water to drink.

Through the description of the situation in the tenth and eleventh stanza, the narrator tries to convey the condition of the still ocean surrounding the ship, and the plight of the sailors on board. The sailors were stranded on a motionless ship in the intense heat with not a drop of water to quench their thirst. The waters were so still, that everything in it seemed to be rotting and gave the ocean a slimy appearance. Repulsive creatures crawled out of the sea. At night, the death fires seemed to dance all around them. The narrator compares the sea water to witches oil as it "burnt" with hues of green, blue and white.

The mariners feel that the ancient mariner is responsible for their suffering as he killed the harmless albatross. They believed that the spirit of the bird now was following them and plaguing their lives with sufferings.

The condition of the mariners as expressed in the thirteenth stanza is pitiful. The intense heat and the unavailability of water caused their throats to be parched. Their tongues were so dry that the mariner compared them to withered roots. They were unable to speak since they felt as if they were choking on soot.

The mariners hung the albatross around the neck of the ancient mariner because they held him responsible for the misfortunes they had to face on the ship. They hoped it would be a constant reminder of the curse he had brought upon himself and the rest of the crew by killing the innocent bird. They wanted him to repent for the crime that he had committed.

The rhyming scheme in the eleven line stanzas is ABCB.

In the six line stanzas it varies; ABBCDD, ABCBDB.

Some lines have internal rhyming as in:

The guests are met, the feast is set

The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared

And through the drifts "the snowy clifts"

This answer depends on each student's views and opinion.

Here is a specimen of how your answer can look like:

The propitious weather turned ominous with the appearance of a tyrannous storm. It singled out and pursued the ship with inexplicable vengeance. The ship got trapped in a frigid prison of icebergs with no means of escape. The place spelled doom as it emanated a greenish glow and frightening sounds. Suddenly, out of nowhere came an albatross and gave the despondent sailors hope for survival. The ship miraculously broke free from the icy maze and headed towards a calmer place. Inexplicably, as if overcome by an evil force, the mariner shot the albatross dead with his crossbow. Though they initially criticized the mariner, they eventually justified his actions. What followed was a frightening tale that sealed the fate of the perpetrator and his crew.  Nature turned against them in various ways. First the sun turned blood red and beat down on the sailors parching their throats. The water around the vessel thickened and slimy sea creatures emerged out of it. Frightening death-fires appeared and the water itself turned into hues of green, blue and white like witch's oil. The strange forces of nature combined with the evil deep of the mariner compounded the fate of the crew members. Thus we can see that supernatural elements play a big role in shaping the narrative of the poem.

Activity to be carried out by the students

Activity to be carried out by the students 

Activity to be carried out by the students. 

This answer depends on each student's views and opinion.

A few guidelines:

i.

• Ever since the episode he kept telling everyone and anyone his story.

   

• The narration made his heart felt lighter.

   

• Throughout, he must have been looking out for people who might listen to his story.

   

• Seeing the three guests entering he decided to try his luck with one of them.
• One look at this particular guest made him feel confident that he would listen to his story.

ii.

• The ancient mariner, after having killed the harmless albatross carried a terrible guilt upon his shoulders.

   

• He could never forgive himself for the crime he had committed.

   

• He needed to tell the story to people because only then would the great burden that he carried get lighter.

   

• He hoped people would sympathize and empathize with him and not condemn him for his crime.

   

iii.

• In the end, your crimes will always catch up with you.

   

• All the sins that you commit will always haunt you, and it is only when you repent will the burden gets lighter.

   

• Know what repercussions your actions will have.

   

• You have to live with it for the rest of your life.

   

• Respect all forms of life. They have a right to live just like you do.

   

• The ancient mariner killed the harmless, innocent bird which only brought joy and entertainment to the other sailors, and so had to suffer for his crime for the rest of his life.

   

• He has brought out the old superstition that exists especially among sailors that 'killing an albatross brings bad luck'.