How did the ship sink? What sound did Sir Ralph imagine he could hear in his dying moments? What is the message of the poem?

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Solution

The wind had dropped and their ship was drifting along. The waves were rising high furiously and no warning sound from the Inchcape Bell was heard. The ship struck hard against the rock and the waves rushed in on every side and the ship sank.
He hears a dreadful sound of the devil ringing one's death knell in his dying moments.
One who digs a pit for others falls into it himself. The message is when one intends to harm others by doing a wrong deed one becomes a victim of the deed himself.

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