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The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Summary in English by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Summary in English
Coleridge introduces his story by describing an old grey-bearded sailor who approaches three young men headed for a wedding celebration and compels one of them, the groom’s next-of-kin, to hear his story. At first the intrusion is resented by the wedding guest, but the young man is transfixed by the Ancient Mariner’s ‘glittering eye’ and can do nothing but sit on a stone and listen to his strange tale. The story is remarkable indeed, and the listener soon falls captive to the suspense building up, responding at first with fear and then with horror as the tale unfolds.
There was a little apprehension among the ship’s crew as they sailed clear of the harbours, bound for the open sea. At this point, hearing the music of the bassoon drifting from the direction of the wedding, the wedding guest imagines that the bride has entered the hall, but he is still unable to tear himself away from the Mariner’s story.
Several days out at sea, a storm arose and the Mariner’s vessel was driven before the wind in a constant southerly direction, headed toward the South Pole. As it entered, the ‘land of ice, and of fearful sounds, where no living thing was to be seen,’ a feeling of foreboding came over the helpless crew, and so it was with great relief that the crew eventually greeted the sight of an albatross, a huge seabird, flying through the fog towards them. The Ancient Mariner tells his listener, ‘As if it had been a Christian soul/We hailed it in God’s name.’ As it flew around the ship, the ice cracked and split, and a wind from the south propelled the ship out of the frigid regions, into a foggy stretch of water.
The albatross followed behind it. Everyone took this bird as a good omen, and the bird followed the ship faithfully as it returned northward. At this point a pained look crosses the Mariner’s face, and the wedding guest asks him, ‘Why look’st thou so?’ The Mariner confesses that he had shot and killed the albatross with his crossbow and brought a curse down upon them all.
The south wind continued to propel them northward, but somehow the old sailor realised he had done ‘a hellish thing’ and retribution would soon follow, in the form of loneliness and spiritual anguish.
The crew at first berated their mate for killing the bird that had brought the change in the breeze.
But as the ship made its way out of the fog and mist and continued on, they decided that it must be the bird that had brought the mist. Perhaps their shipmate had rightfully killed it after all.
The vessel sailed on northward until it reached the equator, where the breeze ceased and the craft was becalmed. The wind pushed the ship into the silent sea where the sailors were stranded, the winds died down, and the ship was ‘As idle as a painted ship/Upon a painted ocean.’ The men had no water to drink, it looked as if the sea was rotting and slimy creatures crawled out of it and walked across the surface.
The water looked green, blue, and white and creatures giving out light jumped in and out of the water, around the ship, creating an eerie atmosphere.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Summary Questions and Answers
Question 1.
Answer the following by choosing the right option from those given below:
a. The Ancient Mariner stopped one of the three wedding guests because
(i) he wanted to attend the wedding with him
(ii) he wanted him to sit with him
(iii) he wanted him to listen to his story
(iv) he wanted to stop him from going to the wedding
Answer:
(iii) he wanted him to listen to his story
b. The wedding guest remarked that he was ‘next of kin ’ which means that
(i) he was a close relation of the bridegroom
(ii) he was a close relation of the bride
(iii) he was next in line to get married
(iv) he had to stand next to the bridegroom during the wedding
Answer:
(i) he was a close relation of the bridegroom
c. ‘He cannot choose but hear ’ means
(i) the mariner was forced to hear the story of the wedding guest
(ii) the wedding guest was forced to hear the story of the mariner
(iii) the mariner had the choice of not listening to the story of the wedding guest
(iv) the wedding guest had the choice of not listening to the story of the mariner
Answer:
(ii) the wedding guest was forced to hear the story of the mariner
d. ‘The sun came up upon the left, /Out of the sea came he; ‘This line tells us that the ship’
(i) was moving in the northern direction
(ii) was moving eastwards
(iii) was moving in the western direction
(iv) was moving towards the south
Answer:
(iv) was moving towards the south
e. The Wedding-Guest beat his breast because
(i) he could hear the sound of the bassoon
(ii) he was forced to listen to the Mariner’s tale when he wanted to attend the wedding
(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.
(iv) the sound of the bassoon announced the arrival of the bride and the start of the wedding ceremony
Answer:
the sound of the bassoon announced the arrival of the bride and the start of the wedding ceremony
f. The storm blast has been described as being tyrannous because
(i) it was so fierce that it frightened the sailors
(ii) it took complete control of the ship
(iii) the storm was very powerful
(iv) the sailors were at its mercy
Answer:
(iii) the storm was very powerful
g. The sailors felt depressed on reaching the land of mist and snow because
(i) there was no sign of any living creature
(ii) they felt they would die in that cold weather
(iii) they were surrounded by icebergs and there seemed to be no sign of life
(iv) everything was grey in colour and they felt very cold
Answer:
(iii) they were surrounded by icebergs and there seemed to be no sign of life
h. The sailors were happy to see the albatross because
(i) it was the first sign of life and therefore gave them hope that they might survive
(ii) it split the icebergs around the ship and helped the ship move forward.
(iii) it was a messenger from God and it lifted the fog and mist.
(iv) it gave them hope of survival by splitting the icebergs.
Answer:
(iii) it was a messenger from God and it lifted the fog and mist
i. The two things that happened after the arrival of the albatross were
(i) the icebergs split and the albatross became friendly with the sailors
(ii) the icebergs split and a strong breeze started blowing
(iii) the ship was pushed out of the land of mist and the ice melted.
(iv) the albatross started playing with the mariners and ate the food they offered.
Answer:
(i) the icebergs split and the albatross became friendly with the sailors
j. ‘It perched for vespers nine ’ means
(i) the ship stopped sailing at nine o ’clock every day
(ii) the albatross would appear at a fixed time everyday.
(iii) the albatross would sit on the sail or the mast everyday
(iv) the albatross was a holy creature
Answer:
(ii) the albatross would appear at a fixed time everyday.
k. ‘God save thee, ancient Mariner,/From the fiends that plague thee thus!- Why look’st thou so? ’ means
(i) the mariner wanted to know why the wedding guest was looking so tormented
(ii) the wedding guest wanted to know why the mariner was looking so tormented
(iii) the wedding guest wanted to know whether some creatures were troubling the ancient mariner
(iv) the ancient mariner wanted to know whether something was troubling the wedding guest
Answer:
(ii) the wedding guest wanted to know why the mariner was looking so tormented
Question 2.
Answer the following questions briefly
a. How did the ancient mariner stop the wedding guest?
Answer:
The Ancient Mariner first held him with his skinny hand but once the Wedding Guest told him to ‘unhand’ him, he held him mesmerised with his ‘glittering eye’. ‘
b. Was the wedding guest happy to be stopped? Give reasons for your answer.
Answer:
The Wedding Guest was not happy to be stopped. He was next of kin of the bridegroom and wanted to attend the wedding.
c. Describe the ancient mariner.
Answer:
The Ancient Mariner was old and thin. His beard was grey. His eyes were shining and could mesmerise a person.
d. How does the mariner describe the movement of the ship as it sails away from the land?
Answer:
The Mariner says that one clear and bright day, they set sail. The ship left the harbour and sailed past the church, the hill and the lighthouse.
e. What kind of weather did the sailors enjoy at the beginning of their journey? How has it been expressed in the poem?
Answer:
The Mariner says that at first, they sailed South out into a sunny and cheerful sea which means that the weather was good. As they sailed South towards the Equator, the sun was directly overhead.
f. How did the sailors reach the land of mist and snow?
Answer:
When the mariners were several days out at sea, however, a terrible storm arose and the vessel was driven by the wind in a constant southerly direction, headed toward the South Pole.
g. How does the mariner express the fact that the ship was completely surrounded by icebergs?
Answer:
‘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 swound!’
h. How do we know that the albatross was not afraid of the humans? Why did the sailors hail it in God’s name?
Answer:
It was with great relief that the crew eventually greeted the sight of an albatross, a huge seabird, flying through the fog toward them. The bird soon became a familiar sight and came to the sailors call. The sailors revered it as a sign of good luck, as though it were a ‘Christian soul’ sent by God to save them.
i. What was the terrible deed done by the Mariner? Why do you think he did it?
Answer:
The Ancient Mariner shot the albatross with his crossbow. The Ancient Mariner killed the albatross for no reason.